


The Colors of Autumn

by Hatesolstice



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Domestic Violence, F/F, F/M, Family, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Romance, Slice of Life, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-03 02:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8693302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hatesolstice/pseuds/Hatesolstice
Summary: What began as childhood friendship slowly blossomed into more, but if only they had told each other how they felt. But life has a way of bringing things around full circle, and what had once drifted apart over the years could suddenly become whole once more. Life changes, much like the leaves in the fall, and every spring things begin anew.





	1. Playdate

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for checking out this story. I originally posted it on fanfiction.net, but wanted to expand my reader base, so I chose to post here as well. I am new to using this site(in spite of how old my account is...I never use it), so if the formatting seems wrong or I do something horribly stupid, please let me know and I'll try and fix it.
> 
> Anyway, this is a modern AU, and there are no magic powers. I've never written a romance and slice of life story before, but that isn't stopping me from trying. Hopefully I do it justice. Please feel free to leave comments/reviews and tell me what you guys think. I'll try and not clutter the story with author's notes. I tend to avoid them altogether in my other stories, so hopefully that'll be the case here. If I need to include trigger warnings for certain things, let me know and I'll be sure to add those as well.
> 
> This story follows Elsa and a boy named Micah through Kindergarten to 12th grade and beyond. There are several time skips in the beginning, but that stops once 9th grade hits. It won't take nearly as long as it sounds to get there. If any of it feels rushed, there is a reason to it. Things that will happen soon will also have a major effect on certain characters later on and throughout the story.
> 
> Also, this first chapter is about as fluffy as it's going to get. Starting with the second chapter, things will take a slightly more serious turn. The story won't be very fluffy after a bit, although I do make sure to add some fluff in here and there. And no, there will be no rushing straight to the romance.
> 
> Finally, upload dates are usually Fridays. Hopefully that works out for you guys. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
> 
> If you want to see my other work, check out my profile here:
> 
> https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6497265/
> 
> So far, it's just Frozen stories, but that may change here soon.
> 
> Anyway, on to the story. Please enjoy.

September 6th, 2004. The start of a new school year, and all the fresh new faces in Mrs. Allen's kindergarten class were wide-eyed and brimming with excitement. They were filled with a dazzling energy, a fuel coursing through their adolescent veins that pumped into their roaring engines at dizzying speeds. It was difficult to keep them focused for more than a couple minutes. They were awestruck, and most had found toys of various types to occupy their tiny minds. All but one.

In a quiet corner of the classroom, sitting by herself, was a small girl with big sapphire-blue eyes and snowy blonde hair. While the other kids were running about making noise, playing in groups, and making friends, the little blonde girl kept to herself. She had found an old, beat up princess doll buried deep inside one of the toy boxes, and just sat and stared at her. The doll was dirtied from years of use, one of the eyes was missing, and the string making up her thin smile was coming undone. It was in sad shape, but the girl didn't care. To her, the doll was imperfect but beautiful.

After watching the little girl play by herself, Mrs. Allen grew somewhat concerned. The child wasn't remotely as energetic as the others, and seemed to be slightly depressed. She firmly believed that no child at that age should be that way. It typically meant there was more going on in the child's life than what was readily apparent.

She decided to approach the little blonde girl and talk to her, just to try and learn something about her. Putting on a bright smile, she knelt down beside her. “Elsa, sweetie, why aren't you playing with the others?”

Elsa didn't bother to look up from the doll sitting in her lap. Instead, she shrugged. “I don't want to.”

“I'm sure they would love to have you join them,” Mrs. Allen said sweetly.

“I tried. They made fun of me.”

“Who did?” the teacher asked.

“I don't know their names. It was some girls.”

“Well, why don't we find you someone else to play with?” Mrs. Allen urged.

“I don't want to. I want to be alone.”

“Okay. Come play with the others when you feel better.”

She didn't like how Elsa responded, but she wasn't going to force her to interact with the others. There was always one kid that didn't enjoy bonding with the other children for whatever reason. A lot of the time it was because they were shy. Other times it was due to any lack of socialization at home. But sometimes there were far deeper issues involved. Things that Mrs. Allen preferred not to think about if possible.

Soon the bell rang for recess, and the kids flooded the classroom door and poured out like ants in an anthill. Elsa waited silently and patiently until the others had left before making her way to the playground. As she slowly wandered around, trying to look everywhere all at once for the quietest corner she could find, she noticed a lone oak tree in the corner of the large grassy field that the kids usually used to play kickball. It's branches sprawled out in every direction, casting a great shadow across much of the field. 

This was where she decided to spend her time. Sitting down, leaning back, and watching the other kids play, Elsa was content with where she was. She preferred to be alone. Always has. Other kids usually picked on her when she played at the park by her house, and the two boys that lived next door to her taunted and teased her at every opportunity. It was enough to drive her away from any real interaction with others.

This went on for weeks. Everyday, Elsa would go to class, sit quietly at her desk when they were doing basic lessons, was always neat and tidy during arts and crafts, and sat away from the other kids when it was story time. When the others would try and get her to play, she would sit there and withdraw into herself, confusing the other kids and forcing them to abandon her. She was happier that way.

It was nearly a month into the school year, and Elsa was once again sitting in her favorite spot beneath the large oak. The leaves had started to turn to orange and brown, the colors of autumn. She had brought a picture book from class to sit down and try learning some of the words inside when an unfamiliar voice brought her out of her secret little world. When she looked up to see who it was, there was a caramel brown haired boy with emerald-green eyes looking at her with a smile on his face.

“What'cha reading?” the boy asked.

At first, Elsa didn't respond. She looked back down at her book and shrugged dismissively. “A book with cats in it.”

“Cool. Can I look at it with you?” the boy asked eagerly.

Looking back up at the boy, Elsa furrowed her tiny brow and considered him. “Why?”

It was the boy's turn to shrug, but he still had a goofy smile on his face. “Because you're pretty and you need a friend.”

Even at six years old, Elsa had no idea how to respond to that. It didn't make sense. None of the other kids had ever been nice to her before, or said anything even remotely close to that. But, before she could think of something to say, the boy was already sitting down beside her and looking over her shoulder.

“I'm Micah,” the boy suddenly said. “What's your name?”

“I'm Elsa,” she found herself saying before she could think.

“I like that name.”

There they sat, beneath the ancient oak, naming the various pictures in the book that laid in Elsa's lap. It felt strange to her, having someone just push their way into becoming her friend. It didn't make sense to her. How someone could choose to be her friend was mind-boggling. This sort of thing never happened, especially so abruptly. The boy had just helped himself, and there was nothing Elsa could do to stop it. What she didn't understand was why she didn't want to.

 

00000

 

The days soon turned into weeks, which then turned into months. It was nearing Christmas, and school would be out for the holiday. Elsa and Micah had become fast friends, which the little blonde still didn't understand. She did, however, stop questioning it after about a week of them spending recess together everyday. The craziest part was when he had finally coaxed her into playing a game of tag with him. They ran for the full half hour they had to play, and she had never had so much fun.

That itself was a new sensation. Elsa was actually having fun. This concept had been foreign to her for so long that she never dreamed she could actually play with someone else her age and enjoy it. Her new favorite pastime activity was climbing the monkey bars while Micah chased after her. The boy was relentless, but she was faster and more agile. The times he did finally catch up to her, the bell usually rang shortly after.

Unfortunately, the time they got to spend together was short lived. Once that bell rang to end recess, they had to slowly trudge their way back to their separate classrooms. This always depressed Elsa, as she knew she'd have to wait until the next day to see her friend. The weekends were torture for her. On those days she was stuck with her three year old sister, Anna. Though she was very protective and fond of her sister, Anna was still too little to do much. So her weekends, while often busy, were brutally long. With the holidays fast approaching, Elsa was beginning to think that Christmas and her birthday would be boring. Without her friend to play with, she didn't think she could enjoy the break much at all.

It was the second to last day before holiday break, and the weather had already begun to turn dreadfully cold. The sky was overcast with a light gray blanket of clouds, and there were snow warnings in effect on every news broadcast. Elsa's parents watched that sort of thing every morning before her mother took her to school. She never paid much attention to it because of how dull it was, but she heard the word snow and got excited. Then she remembered Micah, and how she wouldn't see him over the holiday.

“Momma, can my friend Micah come over?” Elsa asked as she slipped on her heavy coat.

“Is that that boy you've been playing with?” her mother wondered.

“Yeah. Please?”

“Maybe tomorrow, sweetie. I have to meet his mother first.”

Her mother's answer saddened her just a little. “Okay,” she said as she looked down at her feet.

The ride to school was as uneventful as ever. Just like always, they were stuck behind a slow-moving school bus that stopped at nearly every block. It always felt like it took an eternity to get there, and they had to stop so often that it made Elsa impatient. Sometimes in the mornings she would get a chance to see Micah before the classrooms opened up, and they would stand and talk. For some reason, his mother was never there in the mornings. But she always picked him up in the afternoons when it was time to go home. Elsa never got a chance after class was let out to see him, but this particular morning she was more determined than ever to catch him before they left.

Class was actually becoming more fun, especially with all the neat projects Mrs. Allen had the kids working on. From construction paper snowmen to advent calendars, there was always something for them to do. Today, however, the teacher had the kids making Christmas cards for their parents. Elsa's was an ice blue, and the inside had a set of stick figures representing her family. Her handwriting was some of the neatest in the class, something that Mrs. Allen complimented her on everyday. She had even cut out a paper Christmas tree, complete with a shining star on top, and pasted it right on the inside of her card. Elsa was rather pleased with herself, and showed it to her teacher when she was finished. Mrs. Allen had that warm smile on her face that told her she had done a fantastic job, which in turn made Elsa smile as brightly as she could.

It wasn't long until the recess bell rang out across the schoolyard, and the kids rushed out to play. As always, Elsa took her time and waited for the other kids to leave first before heading out. Then she made a beeline for the oak tree and sat, waiting for Micah to finally arrive. When he did, he was walking with something behind his back and a toothy grin plastered onto his face.

“Hi Elsa! I have something for you!” he exclaimed joyously.

Elsa's face split with a grin of her own, and she stood up excitedly. “What is it?”

“A card I made,” he said as he presented her a messy, multicolored piece of paper he had crafted together.

Taking it from his hands, Elsa looked it over and couldn't wipe the grin from her face. Her eyes were wide as she tried to read the words on the front. After several moments of pronouncing each letter, she finally guessed it.

 _To Elsa,_ it read.

Inside was a picture of two little stick figures holding hands with the names Elsa and Micah written above them. There were a couple pink paper hearts pasted next to them, though they were out of proportion and looked more like arrowheads. Both stick figures had big smiles that were a little too large, and for some reason there was a cat drawn next to them.

The whole thing made Elsa incredibly happy, and she threw her arms around Micah and hugged him as tight as her tiny arms would allow. Then, after she let him go, she started to tear up a little and she had no idea why.

“Do you want to come to my house tomorrow?” she asked him as she wiped her eyes dry.

“Sure! I have to ask my mom first,” he said, his smile somehow even bigger than before.

For the rest of recess they sat and talked about what they were doing in class until the earsplitting ring of the bell summoned them back to class. Slowly they made their way back, going their separate ways when they reached the building their classes were in. Elsa wasn't upset or down about having to return to class like she normally would be. She had the card Micah had given her, and she showed it off to Mrs. Allen as soon as they were back in the room. Her teacher was very happy that Elsa had finally found a friend, and she was rather surprised by the card. It was cute, and she congratulated Elsa on making a friend finally.

At the end of class, Elsa raced out of the room to her mother and started pulling on her hand and dragging her to where Micah would inevitably be. They had to zigzag through the crowd of people, and she had to look everywhere to make sure she didn't miss him. When she did finally spot him, he was walking off towards the parking lot with his mother. It looked like they were talking.

Elsa urged her mother on as fast as she could, and once she was in earshot of him, she shouted. “Micah! Wait!”

Luckily he heard her, and turned around in time to be nearly tackled to the ground by the little blonde. “Elsa! Hi!” he laughed as he tried his best to keep his feet on the ground.

The two women were watching, rather amused, and laughed as the kids stood back up. “Micah, hon, is this the girl you keep talking about?”

The boy nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! She's Elsa!”

“Well it's good to finally meet you Elsa, sweetie,” the woman said. Then she turned to Elsa's mother and smiled. “I'm Jenny by the way. Micah absolutely adores your daughter.”

“I'm Melissa, and Elsa is the same way,” her mother replied. “She doesn't shut up about him. I mean that in a good way, of course.”

“Momma, can Micah come over now?” Elsa asked earnestly.

“Sweatheart, we have to do some shopping once we leave. How about tomorrow, if that's okay with you?” The last part was directed to Jenny.

“I see nothing wrong with that,” Jenny replied, looking down at her son. “How does that sound? Want to see Elsa after school tomorrow?”

The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and clapped his hands together excitedly. “Really!? Yes!”

“Well I guess that settles it,” Melissa said as she laughed at the boy. “We can pick him up tomorrow after school lets out and take him to our place. Maybe go for ice cream or something. But we should definitely exchange numbers.”

As the adults were chatting, Elsa and Micah hugged one last time as they giggled together. Their mothers thought it was absolutely adorable to watch, but they eventually had to say their goodbyes and parted ways. Elsa was pumped, though, at the very idea of Micah coming to her house. She had never had a friend visit before, and she wanted to show him all the things she had. Although, he was a boy and boys didn't like girl stuff. But she didn't care. She was going to show him anyway. They'd probably end up watching a movie or something. She didn't know or care. All she knew was her best friend was coming to her home and spending the day with her.

 

00000

 

The next day couldn't come soon enough. Usually Elsa was quiet and calm in the morning, but this morning was entirely different. She was practically bouncing off the walls as she ran around gathering her things for school and making sure her toys were where they were supposed to be so she could show Micah when they got back. Everything had to be perfect. Why, she didn't know. She had never thought about those sort of things before. But today was different. Today she wanted to impress him so badly that it hurt, and she didn't understand why.

On the way to school, Elsa kept thinking about all the things they would do together. They could draw and color, they could run around in the backyard until they were too cold to be outside anymore, they could watch a movie and eat popcorn... The list went on. Every prospect made her bubble with excitement. She had no idea what they were actually going to do, but she knew it was going to be the best day ever. That much she could count on.

At school, the day dragged on as if time had the consistency of slime. They mostly just had a free day where they got to do whatever they wanted. When recess came, Elsa bolted out the door before the other kids could even respond to the bell, and she ran all the way to the oak tree that she shared with her best friend. It took no time at all for him to show up, running nearly as fast as she did.

“Hi Elsa!” he said cheerfully as he dragged her into a bear hug.

After he set her back down, Elsa giggled hysterically and found her spot on the ground to sit. “Are you ready to come over?”

“Yeah! Oh, I have something for you,” he replied as he dug around in the pocket of his jeans. “Here you go.”

It was a piece of chocolate that was in some gold wrapping. Elsa's blue eyes widened with delight as she tore into the thing and crammed the chocolate into her mouth. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned over and gave Micah a quick peck on the cheek. As soon as she realized what she had done, her face turned beet red and she fell quiet. Micah's face was a similar shade of red. Neither knew why they were embarrassed. It wasn't something they felt very often.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Elsa looked back up at her friend with a shy smile. “What do you want to do at my house?”

Micah simply shrugged at her. “I don't know. What about you?”

“I don't know. Watch Harry Potter?” Elsa asked.

“Harry Potter is cool!” Micah replied excitedly.

They talked for a bit about their favorite superheroes, and then the bell rang. Back in class, Elsa noticed that there was a big TV set up at the front of the room, and a bunch of the kids were seated on the floor where Mrs. Allen usually did story time. Her teacher was standing beside it, trying to get her class' attention.

Holding up her hand to silence everyone, Mrs. Allen hushed the kids into listening to her. “Okay everybody, we're going to invite Mrs. Callum's class over to watch a movie together. Who here likes Finding Nemo?”

Nearly every hand in the room shot up, and several of the kids got overexcited and jumped up. Elsa was excited as well, but not for the same reason as the others. Mrs. Callum was Micah's teacher, which meant he was going to be watching the movie with her. This made her extremely giddy and she couldn't wait for them to arrive.

Soon enough the other class arrived, and Micah made a beeline for Elsa. They chose to sit at one of the tables rather than on the carpeted floor. They were the only ones to do so, and Elsa couldn't care less. She was happy, excited to take Micah to her house and play, and school was almost over. It was going to end up being the perfect day... Hopefully. There were no signs that it could end poorly, and she was bound and determined to keep it that way. Nothing was allowed to go wrong.

Eventually class let out and the two rushed out to meet with Elsa's mother. They made their way to a white, four-door SUV, tossed their bags in the back, and hopped in. It smelled like a brand new car, and it was, and it had a picture of Elsa and Anna hanging from the rear view mirror. Moments later, the car roared to life and they were on the road.

“Do you kids want some ice cream before we head home?” Melissa asked over her shoulder.

In unison, both kids chimed their approval and made her laugh and shake her head. Off they went to the store to grab whatever it was the kids wanted, then headed home. Traffic wasn't too bad for the Friday before Christmas, which was a Godsend in Melissa's eyes. Normally it was hell trying to get home, but she figured a lot of people were already out of town so things went smoother than expected.

When the car pulled up to the house, Micah stared up at it in awe. The split-level home was painted an eggshell white, had large sectional windows, and an arched awning above the porch. The front yard wasn't very big, but it had lots of flowers and was very pretty. It even had a chimney, which mean they had a fireplace. He found that to be exceptionally cool.

It wasn't long before the kids were inside and running up the stairs to Elsa's room. Throwing open the door, Elsa spread her arms out in a grandiose fashion to display all the things that lined her walls and shelves. She had a plethora of stuffed animals smothering the top of her bed, a toy box overflowing with things that she had already outgrown but kept anyway, a small bookcase with things from when she was slightly younger. Her parents hadn't quite yet upgraded her to the more advanced books.

“This is my room. I know boys don't like girl things, but I wanted to show you anyway,” Elsa said shyly.

“Whoa,” Micah exclaimed. “You have lots of stuff. I wish I had this much stuff to play with.”

“You don't have toys?” she asked, curiously.

“I do, but not a lot.”

“Oh. What do you wanna do first?”

Micah spent a moment looking around the room, trying to decide where to begin. “I don't know. How about a movie?”

“Okay. Let's go ask my momma.”

Off they ran, racing across the house to the downstairs family room where the large screen TV was nestled into the corner. Melissa had an office across the hall and was busy with something on the computer when the little girl knocked.

“Momma, can we watch a movie?” she asked quietly. She always had to be quiet in the office.

“Of course sweetie. Do you want Harry Potter again?” her mother asked.

Gleefully Elsa nodded, grabbed Micah's hand, and dragged him into the family room and plopped herself down on the large couch. They sat next to each other rather closely, and it was something Melissa noticed but said nothing about. She smiled to herself as she set up the movie for the kids. She couldn't help but think of how adorable their little relationship was. It was definitely a good thing that Elsa had a friend, and it was even better that they got along so well. Elsa needed this.

“Do you guys want some popcorn?” she asked as she headed out of the room.

“Yes please!” Elsa chimed as the movie started, magically drawing them in.

The hours passed by quickly, and it was nearly time for Micah to head home. After the movie ended, they resorted to playing with some of Elsa's dolls in her bedroom. She was rather surprised when he told her he would play with her. So, they set off to create a pretend city of oversized dolls and the rare action figure that Elsa had begged her parents for. They were having great time, marrying off dolls with one another regardless of the intended genders, and didn't notice that the clock had struck 6 o'clock.

The familiar sound of the doorbell brought their play to a halt. Moments later they could hear Micah's mother talking with Melissa, and they trudged their way down the stairs so he could leave. They both looked rather defeated, but not entirely so. They still had fun, which was the most important part. That and they both knew that it would happen again soon.

“You ready to go, bud?” Jenny asked as Micah pulled on his coat and backpack.

“Yeah,” he said rather lamely.

“Don't worry, you guys will get plenty of chances to play again. Maybe next week before Christmas, unless you guys are busy?” she asked Melissa.

“We have family flying in, but we might be able to squeeze in some time for these two. It's Elsa's birthday just before Christmas,” Elsa's mother replied with a smile.

“That sounds good. Okay, kiddo, say bye to Elsa.”

“Bye Elsa,” he said as he gave her a hug.

Elsa watched as they walked back to their car and drove off, happy that she got to spend the day with her friend. She was a little sad that he had to leave, but her mother did say they might get another chance soon. That was what she held onto, and that occupied her mind all through dinner. When it was time for bed, she was still anxiously waiting for her next playdate with Micah. She was thinking up all the things that they would do together as her eyelids became heavier by the second and she drifted off to sleep.


	2. A Holly Jolly Christmas

December 24th, 2004. It was Christmas Eve, and Elsa was barely excited. Her birthday had already come and gone, and it was disappointment. Some of her family had flown in the day prior – her grandparents and aunt on her mother's side - and normally she would have enjoyed seeing everyone. Unfortunately, the one person she wanted to see more than anyone was unable to make it to her party. Micah's family had apparently become too busy for him to make an appearance. She did at least get to speak to him on the phone for a minute, which cheered her up some.

Now it was supposed to be every child's favorite time of the year, and she wasn't really interested. In fact, she was acting somewhat depressed and withdrawn compared to what she used to be like. At least, that's what her Aunt Candace believed. The woman had noticed a significant change in her niece and it concerned her. She tried sitting down with Elsa and just talking to her, but the little girl would just brush her off and not really speak. After several minutes of trying to coax Elsa into talking, Candace pulled Melissa aside and decided to voice her concerns.

“Mel, have you noticed anything different with Elsa?” she asked quietly. They had moved into the kitchen, away from prying ears.

Her sister let out sigh and leaned onto the island countertop at the center of the kitchen. “Of course I have. You don't think I haven't seen that something is wrong with my little girl?”

“Do you have any idea what could be causing her to be so anti-social and depressed? She's seven for Christ's sake. That is way too young to be miserable.”

Melissa didn't answer right away, instead resting her head in her hands. “I don't think she's depressed.”

“How can you say that?” Candace said a little harshly. “It's Christmas and the girl isn't even remotely interested. She should be running around excited and hopped up on chocolate fudge. Instead she's moping around on the couch just staring at one of her dolls.”

“What do you want me to do, Candace? It's not like she's going to just tell me what's wrong. She may not even know.”

“Have you considered that she might need to see a therapist? I know you can afford one, and they have ones that specialize in dealing with children her age.”

For whatever reason, the suggestion seemed to irritate Melissa. “She does not need a therapist. She isn't nearly as bad off as you're making it seem.”

“Jesus Christ, Melissa,” Candace exclaimed. “I just spent nearly ten minutes talking to the girl, and she barely spoke to me. Last year I couldn't get her to shut up. This is not normal.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Melissa started to tear up. Her eyes misted over, and she tried to wipe them dry but failed. “I know. I'm at a loss here. The only time I have seen her happy in awhile is when she is with her friend. But he can't always be around. Maybe you're right. Maybe she does need a therapist. I'll talk to Dale about it and see if we can get her in to see one after the holidays.”

“Hon, I know this sucks, but it hurts me to see my niece like this. You really should do this. Help her work through whatever it is that's eating at her.”

The rest of the evening played out without incident. Almost everyone was in the holiday spirit, watching the usual Christmas specials on TV and catching up on things since they last saw one another. Elsa was huddled in her favorite blanket near one of the windows watching the snow fall outside. The ground was covered by a fresh white blanket, and the house was kind of chilly even with the fire blazing in the hearth. The sun had set a couple hours ago, but it was still relatively light out due to the pale moonlight that managed to break through the clouds above. Down on the street Elsa could see the occasional car sluggishly drive by, leaving a mushy trail of tire tracks behind.

When the table was set and dinner was ready, everyone swarmed the large oval oak table and chose a seat. Anna was finally old enough to eat at the table, though she had to be supervised closely by their mother. She had finally begun talking in real words rather than baby speech, so occasionally everyone could understand what she was saying. Melissa still had to cut everything up so the little redhead could actually chew and eat it without fear of choking.

Elsa, on the other hand, chose a place between her aunt and grandmother at the other end of the table from her parents. Her mother and father noticed but said nothing. It was unlike her, but her aunt had always been one of her favorite people. The two had a very special bond that Melissa only hoped to have with her daughter. Ever since Elsa was born Candace had been very close with her. It made her mother slightly jealous.

Dinner was lively as everyone chatted away and laughed, enjoying each others company. The food was picture perfect, something Melissa strove for with pride. She was one of those mothers that had to be the perfect hostess. If things somehow became derailed, she had to do her best to get them back on the right track. Chaos was not an option, as she had an image she had to uphold.

The scent of spiced apple cider filled the home, and everyone retired to the family room downstairs where the Christmas tree was. Underneath sat a pile of presents in colorful wrapping paper and ribbons. Anna bolted for the mountain of gifts, but before she could get far her father grabbed her up and sat down with her on his lap. The room was toasty warm as that was where the fireplace was. The heat didn't help the food coma that was slowly washing over everyone. After more talk and TV specials, Melissa stood up and walked towards the tree.

“Alright, well, I think it's time we each open a present. How does that sound, Elsa?” she asked her daughter.

Elsa had taken a seat by the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. She was once again watching the snow fall and pile up on top of their slide and swing set. Without even looking at her mother, she just shrugged with disinterest.

Nobody else seemed to be paying any sort of attention to her, and Melissa frowned. Without putting any more thought into it, she began grabbing presents from under the tree and passing them around. “Okay, this one is for mom, and this one is dad's. Candace, you can open this one. Elsa, sweetheart, come get your present!”

As if ignoring her, Elsa didn't move. She just kept her eye on the descending puffy flakes coming out of the night sky.

 

“Elsa Lynn, do not ignore your mother!” her father spoke loudly and forcefully.

“Dale, it's fine. She doesn't want to open a present, and I'm not going to force her,” Melissa interjected.

Standing up, Dale sat Anna down on the couch and walked over to Elsa. “No dear, it is not fine. She will not ignore us when being spoken to!” Without hesitation, he grabbed Elsa by the arm, forced her to stand, then swatted her on the bottom before pushing her towards the stairs. “Now go to your room!”

Elsa yelped in pain and started to cry, and everyone fell silent. Then Candace got angry and started to yell. “What the hell, Dale!? That was uncalled for! You didn't need to humiliate her in front of everyone just because she didn't want to open a god damn present!”

“Candace, mind your own damn business! She is my child and I will punish her if I feel it's necessary!” he replied angrily.

“Knock it off, both of you! I will not have you ruin things because of this! Dale, that was completely unnecessary. Now you get up there and apologize to your daughter!” Melissa was practically shouting.

The man didn't say a word before storming off towards the stairs. Instead of heading to Elsa's room, he instead went to the fridge and grabbed a beer from the bottom shelf. Popping the cap off and taking a quick chug, he pulled out his Motorola RAZR and began scrolling through the pictures he had saved. It was nearly fifteen minutes before Melissa came up the stairs to check on them. Quickly Dale stashed away his phone and turned around to see a very pissed off wife.

“I thought I told you to go apologize to her. She's still in there crying,” Melissa said. She was rather displeased.

“I am not apologizing. She disrespected you and deserved what she got,” he retorted.

“You are a son of a bitch sometimes, Dale Erickson. Elsa is seven years old, and there is something wrong with her. You could try showing a little sympathy instead of being an ass.”

“The only thing wrong with her is being insubordinate. I will not tolerate that in this house!”

“I am taking her to see a therapist after the first of the year,” she declared. “Something is bothering our little girl, and I want her to get the help she needs. You certainly aren't helping matters any.”

“And how do you plan on paying for this therapy? Hmm? Besides, you can't trust them. They just want your money and never solve anything.”

Melissa let out a frustrated groan and clenched her fists. “I will pay for it myself with money from my business. You don't have to do a damn thing, like usual.”

Dale glared at her but didn't say anything more. Instead he grabbed another beer from the refrigerator before heading back downstairs. Ignoring him, Melissa headed towards Elsa's room and poked her head in. Lying on her bed crying, Elsa had her back to the door.

“Elsa, sweetie, can I come in?” her mother asked.

Elsa sniffled and shrugged, not even turning to look at her.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Melissa ran a hand along Elsa's arm and back to try and sooth her. It did seem to help calm her down some. “Are you okay?”

“No,” the little girl said between hiccups.

“You know I'm not mad at you, right? And papa isn't either. He's just stressed,” Melissa lied.

“I don't like papa.”

“Elsa, you don't mean that.”

“Yes I do. He always hurts me,” Elsa whined as she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

“Your father just does what he thinks is best,” her mother reasoned. “He doesn't do it to hurt you.”

Elsa started to cry again, and buried her face in her hands. Her mother slowly picked her up and wrapped Elsa in her arms as she began to rock her. “Sweetheart, we love you. You know that, right?”

Once again, the little blonde didn't respond.

Letting out a sigh, Melissa continued to rock her daughter quietly until she finally fell asleep. Then, she laid her down slowly on her bed and covered her up with her favorite blanket before closing the door and heading back downstairs.

 

00000

 

It was the start of the new year and school had started up again. The air was frigid and the ground still covered in frost and snow, but not enough to call off school. The kids were all excited to show off all the neat stuff they had gotten, and the energy around campus was quite lively. Everyone was exclaiming how great their holiday was and how much fun they had. Except for Elsa.

She had never been more miserable in her life. The way her father treated her on a regular basis, the fact that her mother did nothing to stop it, and she was lonely as hell was all a recipe for depression and disappointment. The only saving grace was that she was about to see her friend again after two long, excruciating weeks. This was the only thing that perked up her spirits.

That morning her mother walked her to class like normal. Elsa didn't really care about any of the other kids, and was a little disappointed when she saw that Micah wasn't there yet. He wasn't always there in the mornings anyway, so it didn't bother her all that much. She knew she would see him at recess, and that's all she really cared about.

Standing outside the classroom waiting for the door to open and Mrs. Allen to let them in, Elsa held her mother's hand tighter than normal. If her mother noticed, she didn't say anything. She was shivering, but not from the cold. She was feeling anxious, because Micah was normally at school by the time the doors opened so she could at least catch a glimpse of him walking in. It was almost time for them to be let in and there was no sign of him.

When the doors finally did open, it wasn't Mrs. Allen who was standing there. It was a man with glasses that Elsa didn't recognize at all. One by one the kids filtered into the classroom and took their seats, and the strange man walked up to the front of the class and waited with his hands behind his back. He towered over the kids, and didn't give off much of a friendly feeling.

After everyone was seated, the man coughed into his hand and spoke. “Yes, welcome back to school everyone. I hope you had a good holiday. I am Mr. Fredrick, and I am your substitute teacher today. Mrs. Allen is out sick, so we're just going to have a fun day, alright?”

None of the other kids seemed to care, but the man made Elsa very uncomfortable. Something seemed off about him, but she didn't know what. But it didn't seem to bother any of the others, so she tried to ignore it the best she could. So, she retreated to her favorite corner and dug around the toy box for the princess doll she always played with and sat by herself. Luckily, Mr. Fredrick didn't bother her, so she was able to keep to herself fairly easily. Most of the others knew better than to bug her.

By the time recess came, Elsa was bored out of her mind. There was no structure to the day like when Mrs. Allen was there; no arts and crafts, no story time, no going over the alphabet and learning to read words... It was chaotic and dull. Nothing stimulating was going on. So all she had was her corner of the classroom, and when the bell rang she slowly made her way outside.

Underneath the oak tree was relatively clear of snow, so she got to sit in her favorite spot and wait for Micah to appear. But half way through recess, he never showed up. Elsa was confused. He showed up every day, so the fact that he wasn't there today was very odd. It depressed her even more that she didn't get to see him, and the rest of the day was a big letdown after that. When her mother picked her up that afternoon, Elsa was down in the dumps and worried her mother.

“Elsa, hon, what's wrong? Didn't you have fun at school today?” her mother asked.

“No. The teacher was weird and Micah wasn't there,” Elsa said sadly.

“Don't worry. Micah's family is probably just not back from wherever they went. You'll see him soon,” Melissa assured her. “And Mrs. Allen. I promise.”

The rest of the car ride home was spent mostly in silence, with the exception of her mother's radio station playing quietly in the background. Elsa just stared out the window, watching the city slowly pass by. Everything was still covered in snow, although some of it seemed to be melting finally. That was fine by her. It was just something else for her to look at when she was at home.

Eventually the car came to a stop, but it wasn't at their house. Elsa had no idea where they were, but her mother opened the door and called for her to climb out. They were outside a large two-story building that reminded her of the clinic where she goes for checkups. There was a set of glass double-doors leading into a lobby, and a large staircase that led to the second floor. Her mother slowly guided her by the hand up the stairs, and Elsa suddenly had a feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

“Momma, where are we?” she asked innocently.

Her mother didn't answer right away, and when she did she was very vague. “We're here to see someone that might be able to help us.”

“Help us with what?”

“Don't worry about it, pumpkin. We're just going to talk to someone special, okay?”

“Okay.”

They arrived at what looked like an office that smelled dusty and old. There was a lady behind a small wooden desk that greeted them warmly. “Hi, how can I help you?”

“My daughter has an appointment with Dr. Cohen at 2:30pm,” her mother replied.

“It's Elsa, correct?” the woman asked.

“Yes, correct.”

“Please take a seat and she'll be called back shortly.”

The chairs in the waiting room were uncomfortable, and the magazines and books were mostly for adults. Elsa did manage to find a copy of Dr. Seuss' 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish' that the cover was coming off of. She decided that it would be fun to sit down and look at all the ridiculous pictures in the book, and possibly even learn how to read some of the words. Her mother decided to bury her nose in some magazine that Elsa didn't bother to look at to find out what it was.

They didn't have long to wait before a tall, slender woman with dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail called them into one of the rooms behind the front desk. “Elsa Erickson?”

Both of them stood up and followed the lady into the room, and she gestured to them to take a seat on one of the soft leather couches in the room. The material was cold to sit on, and made a weird sound as she plopped down. Elsa was still rather anxious, but the room felt homely and welcoming, so she felt a little better. There were various paintings on the walls, and in the corner was a little square fountain that lit up from the bottom. The sound of the dripping water was soothing, and there was some sort of ambient music playing softly from the computer on the woman's desk.

“Hi, I'm Dr. Cohen, and you must be Elsa,” the woman greeted them with a smile. “And you must be the mother.”

“Yes, I'm Melissa. I'm the one that made the appointment last week.”

“Pleasure to meet you. So, what brings you guys in today?” Dr. Cohen asked casually.

“Well, Elsa here has been having some issues at home lately,” her mother said. “She's very withdrawn and outwardly depressed. She seems sad all the time. It's hard to get her to want to leave her room, and she absolutely hates going downstairs unless we drag her down there. We have a split-level home, so the downstairs is the family room, my office, and the garage. Everything else is upstairs. But she's always moping around and doesn't show any interest in anything, including her toys. Her kindergarten teacher has told me about her being very down and anti-social at school too. In fact, the only time I've seen her happy in the last year is when she spends time with this boy she made friends with a couple months ago.”

Dr. Cohen hums to herself and crosses the room and takes a seat in front of Elsa. “I see. And this didn't start until about a year ago?”

“That is correct, yes.”

“Well, why don't we ask Elsa here what is on her mind,” she says as she turns her attention to the little girl. “How are you doing there Elsa? Have a good day at school?”

Elsa shook her head and looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. “No, not really.”

“And why is that?”

“Micah wasn't there today.”

“Is Micah your friend?”

She doesn't respond with anything more than a nod, and Dr. Cohen leans back in her chair.

“Do you guys play together a lot?”

“Yeah, every day at recess.”

Dr. Cohen has the slightest smile on her face as she's questioning Elsa, and they discuss all the stuff they like to do during recess when they get to see each other. She tells the woman about the card that Micah had given her just before Christmas, and how he was the nicest person in the world. As she is opening up to the therapist, Melissa is silently tearing up while she listens. Her daughter has so much love for the boy but nothing else. She doesn't understand why this boy is the only one that can get her to act like her old self.

“Now, Elsa, I'm going to ask you a question that you don't have to answer, okay?” the therapist asks.

“Okay.”

“Can you tell me why you're so sad all the time?”

Elsa hesitates for just a second before answering. “I'm not allowed to talk about it.”

“Why is that?” Dr. Cohen asks with concern.

“I'm just not.”

“Who told you that?”

“I'm not allowed to say.”

“Okay. I won't ask any more questions. Would you like to do something fun?” Dr. Cohen asks.

“Like what?” Elsa asks curiously.

“Why don't we draw? Can you draw me a picture of your family?”

“Okay.”

Dr. Cohen smiles and heads to her desk to grab some crayons and a blank sheet of white printer paper. Placing them on the table between her and Elsa, she urges the little blonde to take them and draw while she talks with her mother.

“So what is going on with my little girl?” Melissa asks quietly.

“Mrs. Erickson, it's going to take more than one session for me to determine that,” the therapist informed her. “But honestly, I would keep this boy Micah in her life. He is the only thing that she speaks positively about. For whatever reason, he is able to get past this wall she has put up. Now, I can keep trying, and it will take time, but I cannot guarantee that it will be easy. I know how people view therapists and how we're scam artists, but therapy does work for millions of people. Plus the methods and science behind it have evolved drastically over the years. It is a field that is constantly changing and evolving as we learn more about the human psyche. Children are especially difficult because of how their minds work.”

“I thought you specialized in working with kids.”

“I do, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It's not. Working with children takes time and patience. Now, the methods I use are those that are empirically proven to work the best. I'll give you some information on what the therapy will consist of so you can know and understand what I will be trying to do. The scary thing is this could take just a few sessions or it could take years. That's how complex children are. 

“What truly concerns me here is that Elsa is telling us that whatever is going on with her has to be kept secret, and that someone is telling her this. This is typically a sign of abuse, be it physical, mental, or sexual. With how long you told me she has been acting like this, it sounds like it has been happening for an extended period of time. But I'm not making any conclusions or decisions on this until I meet with her more.”

Before Melissa could respond, Elsa approached them both and presented her drawing. “I'm done. I hope you like it.”

Both Dr. Cohen and her mother were smiling, but then their smiles both fell. The drawing wasn't what either was expecting. The family was there, but there were strange looking shadowy things all over colored in black and red. The picture of her father had what looked like a length of rope or a belt, and her sister and mother were a little farther away from them. Elsa was in the middle with a giant red 'X' across the groin. Overall, the picture was very creepy.

“Elsa, sweetie, what is this?” Dr. Cohen asks as she points to the X.

“That's my private area,” Elsa responds shyly.

“Why is the X there?”

“Because it's naughty.”

“Why is it naughty?”

“I'm not allowed to talk about it.”

“It's okay, sweetheart. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”

As they ready themselves to leave, Melissa turns to Dr. Cohen and thanks her. “Thank you for your help. What am I supposed to do now? What does this all mean?”

“Honestly, you do nothing right now other than be there for Elsa,” the woman says. “As for what it means, there are a couple possibilities, but I am not going to overwhelm you with all that right this second. I have some thinking I need to do, and I will call you if I discover anything more or have any further questions. I would like to schedule another session, preferably next week if possible. I am very concerned for her right now.”

As they climbed back into their vehicle, Elsa buckled herself into her car seat and looked at her mother. “Momma, did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not, baby. Why do you think you did?”

“You didn't like my drawing.”

“I love all your drawings, Elsa. You know that.”

“But you didn't like that one. Why?”

Melissa hesitated before answering, unsure of what to say. If she said the wrong thing, she could really hurt her daughter. “It was just so different from your other pictures.”

“Oh.”

Elsa busied herself with looking out the window of car as they sped off towards home. It was quiet once again, with her mother's radio still turned low. It was some person talking and was boring. It would be dinner time soon, and she didn't quite feel like eating. She never did anymore. All she really wanted was to see Micah. She hoped and prayed that he would be at school tomorrow. Hopefully his family was back from wherever they went for the holidays. She really needed to see him again, no matter what.


	3. Her Own Personal Bully

The next morning was something of a drag, as Elsa's father was home from work. The weather was bad enough that the job site he oversaw had to close down due to safety concerns. Her father worked in construction, and was a foreman for a very large company in the area. He was almost never home in the mornings, and when he was he was always in a foul mood. On those days, Elsa had to be especially quiet so as not to upset him any. Otherwise, he would yell at her and send her to her room. For whatever reason, her mother never did anything about it, and seemed to completely ignore it. Luckily, she didn't have to put up with him much. He had been on the phone for much of the morning dealing with his boss and some of the people that work under him. 

School had been canceled due to another surprise snowfall, and the road conditions were sketchy at best. This bummed her out quite a bit, as she was once again not going to be able to see Micah. Thankfully, she still had the card he had made for her. She kept it on the desk in her room, and looked at it every day since he gave it to her. It helped cheer her up some, but it wasn't really enough. Especially today.

Her father was in a particularly foul mood this morning, something about the job falling completely behind schedule. Every time she went near him she could feel his eyes on her, and so she made it a point to stay as far away from him as she could. If she could avoid him, then the day could theoretically go by without much incident. To make things easier on herself, Elsa chose to busy herself with a coloring book she had gotten for Christmas. Grabbing her crayons and book, she headed for her room and closed the door so she could have peace and quiet, as well as to keep Anna from running amok.

She had been coloring for several hours, staying as neat and inside the lines as she could manage, and before long she had colored in a picture of a princess and her horse. The princess wore all pink, whereas the horse ended up blue and purple, which meant he was magical and could fly. That was something she really enjoyed; coming up with stories for the drawings in her books was something she did all the time. By the time lunch was ready, she had managed to fill in two more pages of her book.

It was nearly noon, and her mother came knocking on her door to tell her lunch was waiting for her. Cleaning up her mess of crayons, she tidied up her desk before heading to the dining room where Anna was undoubtedly tearing apart her food and making a mess. Today they were having ham sandwiches and carrot sticks, which meant she had projectiles to throw at Elsa as she ate. It didn't bother Elsa much really, as she enjoyed playing with her sister. Just not always while they were trying to eat.

After lunch, Elsa decided to ask her mother if she could call Micah and talk to him. She had the basic idea of how a phone worked, and when Melissa said yes she waited patiently as her mother dialed the number for her. It rang a couple times before someone picked up.

_“Hello?”_ It was Micah's mother.

“Can I talk to Micah please?” Elsa asked shyly.

_“Oh hi Elsa, sweetie. Sure, hold on.”_

Elsa was getting excited, and bounced around on the balls of her feet. This was going to be almost as good as actually seeing him.

Moments later, she could hear the phone being picked up and heavy breathing on the other end. _“Hi Elsa!”_

“Hi Micah! Why weren't you at school yesterday?”

_“Oh, uh...something happened with my dad. I can't talk about it though.”_

“Oh. Are you playing in the snow?”

_“Not yet. Going to in a bit. I wish you could come over.”_

“Me too. But my momma says there's too much snow to go anywhere.”

_“Yeah, that's what my mom said too.”_

“What did you do for Christmas?”

_“Nothing.”_

“Nothing? Did you get any toys?”

_“Not really. My mom said Santa couldn't bring much this year. Maybe next time.”_

Just then Elsa heard shouting coming from downstairs, and she immediately knew her parents were fighting about something. She hated it when they did this.

“I think I have to go, Micah. Can I talk to you later?”

_“Sure. Hopefully we can go to school tomorrow. Bye Elsa!”_

Before she could say a word, the phone went silent. She knew she was supposed to take the phone back to her mother, but she didn't want to go downstairs. Not when they were arguing and shouting. So instead, she closed it and set it on the counter in the kitchen, then headed back to her room. She checked on Anna on her way, who was fast asleep in her tiny bed. Closing the door as silently as she could, she tiptoed the rest of the way to her room and shut the door behind her.

The fighting was loud, and they were directly beneath her room. She could hear it pretty well, though she couldn't tell what was being said. She chose to ignore it though, and busied herself with her dolls and stuffed animals. When that became boring, she decided to grab her favorite blanket and sit at the window to watch the snow drift down from the sky. The only thought going through her mind was that she hoped her parents would stop soon. She didn't like it when they did this. It happened a lot, especially lately. There were a few times where her father would storm out of the house and not come home until after she was asleep. He usually came home acting differently, and smelled really bad. Those nights were the worst. When he came home that late he usually woke her up, and she knew something bad was going to happen. That's when she started cowering in the corner of her bed under the covers.

It was quiet outside when the snow fell. It was a strange silence, like the world had just stopped moving and everything had been put on hold. Elsa desperately wanted to go outside and play, but asking her parents right now wouldn't be the best thing to do. They were still at it, and she had no idea how long it would last. She wished it was as quiet inside the house as it was on the snowy street below. Whenever this happened, her mother would usually be crying afterward, and today it seemed like it'd be bad enough for her father leave. But with all the snow on the ground, she didn't know if he'd actually be able to go anywhere. That's when he'd stick to their bedroom and slam the door shut like usual, or busy himself in the garage. Then Anna would wake up cranky and scared, and Elsa would have to calm her and get her back to sleep. Her mother would most likely be down in her office with the door closed, which meant she wasn't supposed to be disturbed. This also meant that it was up to Elsa to take care of Anna while her parents were angry at each other.

Sure enough, after several more minutes of the yelling, Elsa heard the door to her mother's office slam shut. Shortly after that, she heard the garage door open up and her father swearing and throwing things. He did that a lot too. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do during this time. Sometimes she'd go see if her mother was alright, only to be sent away. There were a couple times she tried talking to her father, but that only ended in her getting yelled at and sent to her room. 

The rest of the day passed in relative silence, which was all Elsa wanted. Once Anna woke from her nap, Elsa made sure to spend time with her so they didn't disturb their parents. They would mostly just play in Anna's room with the wooden blocks she got for her birthday last year. Their favorite thing to do, besides build them up high and knock them down, was make a little fort at the foot of the little redhead's bed. Of course, before they ever got half-way done, the toddler would come crashing through and make a colossal mess of the thing.

Eventually it was time for dinner, which was mac 'n cheese with some bread and butter. Their father didn't bother joining them, and their mother just had a glass of wine with no food. She did at least sit with the girls, which made Elsa feel a little better. It was nice seeing that her mother was no longer crying, although her eyes were puffy and red. They ended up talking about the pictures Elsa had colored in, and the fort that they made in Anna's room. Their mother listened but only halfheartedly. It was clear she was still upset.

When Elsa was finished with her food, she took her dishes to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher like she had been shown. Then she returned to the dining room and threw her arms around her mother's waist. “I'm sorry momma.”

Her mother returned her hug, but looked a little puzzled at her. “For what, sweet pea?”

“For you and papa fighting.”

“Oh, baby, you had nothing to do with it. Papa and I just didn't agree on something. I promise,” Melissa assured her.

“Okay. Can I take a bath now?”

“Of course. Then it's time for bed.”

“Will you read to us?”

“Of course I will.”

00000

A few days passed before the weather cleared up enough for school to resume. It was still incredibly chilly outside, and the cold was making Elsa's little nose run. She didn't mind though, since she was finally going to get to see Micah after nearly three weeks. It was enough to raise her spirits considerably, and her mother took notice and smiled. If only she could get her daughter to be like that when she wasn't with her friend. The boy was something of a godsend.

Mrs. Allen was already waiting outside for the kids when they got to school, and let them in the moment they arrived so they didn't have to wait out in the cold. As she was entering the toasty classroom, Elsa still didn't see any signs of Micah. But that wasn't unusual in the mornings anyway. What really mattered was if he was there at recess or not. She didn't know how much longer she could wait to see him.

The early part of the day was fairly boring. They got to do some coloring, and they went over the alphabet again just to help them remember the different letters. After their morning lessons it was lunch time, and then soon after it was recess. The kids all rushed out the door as usual, and Elsa had to wrap herself up before heading towards her oak tree. The snowstorm of the last few days had buried the base of the tree in a layer of powder. She didn't mind though; she just stood and waited.

She was almost about to give up when Micah finally came running towards her, grabbing her up in his trademark bear hug. “Elsa! I'm finally back!” he greeted her as he set her back down.

Elsa giggled with delight. “Where have you been?”

“Oh. Sorry, we had some problems with my dad,” he said sadly.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just can't talk it about it.”

“Do you want to build a snowman?”

His eyes lit up and a smile crept along his lips. Before long they were rolling balls of snow around to make the most misshapen snowman they could. They managed to make the lower portion pretty quickly, and struggled a little to get the upper torso rolled into place. Then Micah began work on the head as Elsa scrounged around for twigs to turn into arms for their creation.

As they were finishing up making the head, a couple of other boys approached them and laughed. One was rather tall for his age, and the other was shorter and chubby.

“That thing is ugly,” mocked the taller boy.

“Shut up, Marshall,” Micah demanded.

“Why are you playing with such a weirdo?” Marshall asked.

Stepping in front of Elsa, Micah puffed out his chest and clenched his hands into fists. “Elsa is not weird. Go away.”

Suddenly, without warning, Marshall ran up and kicked their snowman, causing it to crumble to pieces. Then he and his friend laughed and ran off before Micah could do anything. Shortly after, the bell to return to class rang out across the schoolyard.

“I'm sorry, Elsa. They're jerks,” Micah said apologetically as they began to head back to class.

“It's okay,” she assured him.

“Next time I'll stop them.”

The rest of the day was uneventful, and when it was time to head home Elsa actually managed to see Micah before he left with his mother. Before her mother could stop her, Elsa ran and tackled Micah in a hug from behind while laughing.

“Momma, can Micah come over again?” Elsa asked as they stood back up.

“I don't know sweetie. Papa came home early today, and I don't think he wants company...”

“Please!?” Elsa begged.

“What do you think, Jenny? Is it okay if he comes over and has dinner with us?” Melissa asked. “If not we can do it sometime this weekend.”

“Why don't we do that,” Micah's mother replied. “I can bring him over before work on Saturday and pick him up on my way home.”

“Is that okay with you, sweet pea?” Melissa asked her daughter.

Elsa simply nodded and smiled, and gave Micah another hug before they parted ways. They waved goodbye, and she was still smiling when she climbed into the car so they could leave. As they drove off, Elsa remembered what had happened at recess and decided to tell her mother.

“Momma, me and Micah made a snowman! But then some mean boys came and knocked it down.”

“Well, that wasn't very nice of them,” Melissa replied as she looked at her daughter through the rear view mirror. “Why did they do that?”

“They said I'm a weirdo.”

“Elsa, hon, you are not a weirdo. You're just shy and quiet.”

The rest of the car ride home went in relative peace and quiet. The afternoon was tense because of her father being home, so Elsa chose to spend that time with Anna in her room. Like usual, they built a fort out of wooden blocks just so the feisty little redhead could come and knock it all down. Since Anna was learning how to speak adult words, it was getting easier for them to play games together. They did this until it was dinner time, when their mother came and grabbed them.

That night, after they had bathed and were readied for bed, Elsa crawled under the covers and buried herself in the mountain of stuffed animals that littered the head of her bed. She had one stuffed animal in particular that was her favorite, and she had owned it since she was a baby. It was a little red dragon that squeaked when you squeezed it. The poor thing had been washed in the sink, had food spilled on it, and dragged through the dirt in the backyard. Even after all of that, it remained intact and relatively huggable. Whenever she felt afraid, Elsa would clutch onto the thing for dear life and hide under the blanket. It normally didn't take long before sleep took over.

The next few weeks went on about the same. Elsa and Micah would play together at recess, and those boys would occasionally come by and pick on her. Micah began to get more and more protective of Elsa, doing his best to defend her from their mocking and name-calling. There were a few times where he had to physically chase them away before they made Elsa cry, which they had done a number of times already. By the end of January, it had become nearly a daily occurrence. They only ever picked on her, never Micah.

It was soon Valentine's day, and some of the kids were passing out their little cards with candies to one another. Elsa ended up with a couple, but only because a few of the kids passed them out to the whole class. Otherwise, she was mostly overlooked and ignored. But she didn't care. She busied herself with making a card for Micah, which she was taking great care in making sure it was perfect. She didn't have any candy to give to him, but she knew he wouldn't care. The card would be more than enough.

When the recess bell rang, Elsa happily skipped her way out to their spot beneath the aging oak tree and waited. The grass was mostly muddy after all the snow had finally melted away, although the air still had an icy bite to it. Her cheeks were flush almost as soon as she went outside, and her nose and ears were freezing. She didn't have long to wait though, as Micah was making his towards her. Unfortunately, so were the kids that kept bullying her.

Marshall and his friend got to her first, and immediately started taunting her. “It's the weirdo waiting all by herself. What's that you've got?”

Protecting Micah's Valentine's card behind her back, Elsa backed up against the trunk of the tree. “It's none of your business, Marshall. Go away!”

“Give it to me!” he demanded, then stepped forward and pushed Elsa down. Picking up the card, he started to try and read it before just ripping the thing up and tossing it to the ground. “You're such a loser. Weirdo.”

Elsa started crying, and the boys laughed at her as they ran off. Seconds later, Micah arrived and ran to Elsa, pulling her into a hug.

“I'm sorry I'm late,” he told her quietly. He sounded angry.

“Why do they hate me?” she asked between hiccups.

“I don't know. But I don't.”

Eventually Elsa was able to calm down, and she started gathering up the pieces of the card she had made. “I made you a card, but Marshall ripped it up. I'm sorry.”

“It's okay. I brought you a present.”

She hadn't noticed it at first, but Micah was carrying a little heart-shaped box full of chocolates. It still had the ribbon on it, and a tiny little card taped to the top of it. Grabbing the card, Elsa tried to read what it said, and was able to figure it out after a minute of sounding out the letters.

_Smile._

“My mom helped me with it. Do you like it?” he asked patiently.

Micah wasn't prepared for the tackling hug that Elsa had become known for, and they fell to the ground while laughing. But, he had managed to do the one thing she needed. He managed to cheer her up. They sat under the tree for the duration of recess eating chocolate and talking. When it was time to go in, Elsa decided to make the bravest move she had ever taken. She grabbed Micah by the hand and walked with him back to class.

00000

The end of the school year was less than a week away, and the kids were getting anxious for summer vacation. They were busy making all sorts of neat little arts and crafts projects for their parents, most depicting the fun things they'd done during the school year. They learned a couple new songs to sing and annoy their parents with. But mostly, they had started watching movies more often with Mrs. Callum's class. Elsa had come to love movie days.

On the last day of school, the day was cut short with no time for recess. It sort of bummed Elsa out, but not a lot. Her mother had already arranged a playdate with Micah after school, so he was riding home with them. This perked her right up, and the moment they stepped foot into the house the kids were running up the stairs to Elsa's room, ignoring the cries of her mother to stop running in the house.

“What do you want to do?” Elsa asked as she threw the door open with reckless abandon.

“I don't care. How about you?”

“Want to play house?”

“Sure. But we don't have a house.”

“So, we'll just pretend.”

As if that solved the matter, Elsa started running around the room gathering toys she had stashed away on her bookshelf and in drawers of her dresser. Micah busied himself with gathering a couple of the dolls off the bed to represent their children, of which they had three. Soon enough, they had all the makings of a little house. They had turned Elsa's room into their own miniature home.

They played for several hours, with Micah pretending to go to work while Elsa stayed home with the 'kids'. Melissa only interrupted them once for snacks, and then immediately after they were right back at it. This went on until dinner time, when Elsa's father came home. Once he came upstairs to dinner, Elsa could feel the pit of her stomach twist into knots. He didn't look particularly happy either.

Dinner consisted of chicken strips and french fries. Simple and tasty. Luckily Elsa's father just grabbed a beer from the fridge and went downstairs without saying a word. She had been afraid he'd say something about her having company over. Micah didn't seem to notice the tension any, and happily ate his food without a care in the world. For the first time in nearly a year, she didn't have to worry about her father yelling at her for something inane. That was normally what he did; he'd find some reason, some minute excuse, as to why she had done something wrong and had to be sent to her room. Her mother rarely ever intervened on her behalf, which Elsa didn't understand. Most of the time, she never knew why she was in trouble.

It was nearly 7pm by the time Jenny showed up to pick up Micah. She said traffic had been bad, and she didn't get off work on time like normal. Melissa didn't mind though, as it kept Elsa occupied and out of her father's hair. The way she said it, though, made Jenny frown ever so slightly. Once she had gathered up Micah and his things, he turned and gave Elsa a hug before leaving.

That night, Elsa could hear her parents arguing again. They normally didn't do that so late, but every once in a while they would yell at each other and then sleep in separate rooms. Melissa would often sleep downstairs, leaving Dale to sleep upstairs alone with the girls. Elsa hated it. Her father usually wasn't quiet or pleasant, and there were a few times where he woke her up in the middle of the night. On those nights, she would hide under the covers as best she could and pretend that she wasn't there.

Summer vacation was fun because she got to spend a lot more time outdoors and with Micah. Her parents had bought an above-ground swimming pool shortly before school let out, and the two would get to go play around in the water almost every time they got together. Elsa had only gone over to Micah's house a couple times, and his father had never been there. It seemed odd, and when she asked about it Micah usually fell quiet and didn't say anything. She learned pretty quickly that it was a touchy subject for him.

The short vacation seemed to speed by, and it was nearly time to start getting ready for the next school year. Melissa had taken Elsa shopping to get new clothes and her school supplies, and offered to help Micah with his things too. She and Jenny had begun hanging out together as well, considering their kids were practically inseparable. At first Jenny was very much against the idea of Melissa buying anything for them. But after awhile she let go of her pride and allowed her son to be spoiled a little.

Then the day for class registration came. As the kids were meeting the teachers that they would be assigned to for the year, she discovered that she and Micah had the same teacher, Mrs. Carter. The two began dancing around like fools and were excited for the school year to start. But then the worst thing happened. None other than Marshall himself walked into the room with his mother and gave them both a wicked grin the moment he saw them.

“Oh no. Marshall is in our class!” Elsa panicked.

“Just ignore him. I'll stop him from bothering you,” Micah sad defensively.

“Why does he keep picking on me?”

“I don't know. But just ignore him, okay?”

Elsa nodded but said nothing more. Her stomach had dropped and she felt sick. The one person she didn't want to see again was going to be in her class. It seemed first grade wasn't going to be as fun as she had hoped it would be. It was possibly going to be a horrible school year. Of that she was sure.


	4. Liar Liar

November 27th, 2008. The school year was moving along nicely – for the most part – and the kids had been learning quite a bit. Since first grade, Elsa had managed to be a straight A student and was often the teacher's favorite in class. She was always quiet and polite, paid attention, did her homework, and helped whenever she could. The teachers couldn't be happier to have her in class. Unfortunately, she was quickly labeled as the teacher's pet, and the other kids made fun of her for it.

Especially Marshall. The boy was ruthless, and hadn't given up on making her life miserable. He was in her class this year, which in turn made third grade a nightmare. Every day the boy would call her names, pull on her braid, throw things at her, and just make her life a living hell in general. But he always managed to do it when the teacher wasn't looking. None of the other kids said anything or seemed to care. It wasn't any of their business. Elsa was too afraid to go to the teacher because that would just aggravate the situation even further. He already tormented her on a daily basis. He didn't need more of a reason to keep doing so. Luckily, it was now Thanksgiving, and Elsa didn't have to put up with him for four whole days. The holiday was a nice reprieve from the bastard.

Everyone in her family was in good spirits, including her father, and the food her mother was cooking smelled amazing; it always did. Aunt Candace was there for dinner, and was trying to spend time with her nieces. Anna was now in kindergarten, and so the girls got to do a lot more together and actually enjoy it. Playing games together was so much easier now. It was even better that they could do all of this with Micah as well.

Micah and his mother had been invited to dinner too, and were due to show up at any time. They had done this the last couple years since they didn't have any family that lived in the area. So, instead of letting them be alone on Thanksgiving, Melissa started inviting them over for the feast. Jenny would show up with some dessert she made; the previous year she made a chocolate pie with Hershey Kisses and a whipped frosting on top. It was an instant hit. Even Dale managed to compliment her on it.

That was another thing. Elsa's father had started acting differently over the last two years. She didn't know why, but he wasn't as angry all the time, and was often in a fairly decent mood. The man still bothered her immensely, and she still refused to go downstairs whenever he was home. Instead, she would often spend time in her room reading now that her books consisted of age appropriate stories. She didn't quite have a favorite just yet, but she was sure she'd find one eventually that really jumped out at her. There were plenty of books on her bookshelf, and her mother had taken to buying her a new book every couple of weeks, or even several if Elsa begged enough. Melissa wanted to encourage her as much as possible.

At roughly 1:30 pm the doorbell rang, and Elsa ran to the door as she called out to everyone excitedly that she was answering it. As soon as she slid to a stop and opened it she was pulled into a crushing hug by Jenny and Micah, and the two followed her up the stairs to the kitchen.

“How is school going, sweetie?” Jenny asked Elsa as they entered the kitchen.

“It's okay. Marshall is still a jerk to me.”

“That boy has been tormenting you for years now. Why haven't you gone to the principal?”

“Because I don't want to make things worse,” Elsa said.

“Don't worry mom, I manage to keep him away during recess. He doesn't bother us anymore there,” Micah added.

“Micah, I do not want you fighting at school,” his mother commanded.

“I'm not fighting. I just chase him away. He's a coward.”

It was then that Melissa turned from the vegetables she was dicing and greeted their guests. She had been cutting onions, so it looked like she was crying. The thing was that she and Dale had been arguing again that morning, so Elsa wasn't sure if it was entirely from the potent vegetable.

“It's so good to see you guys,” Melissa said warmly. “Candace and Dale are downstairs, and Anna is in her room coloring I think. That's what she was doing half an hour ago. I've been too busy to check.”

“Don't worry mom, me and Micah can go check on her,” Elsa offered, then headed down the hall without waiting for a reply.

Once the kids were gone and busy, Melissa returned to cutting the onion but turned her head slightly so she could speak. “Any word on when Travis comes home?”

Jenny plopped down onto one of the stools at the bar and sighed. “Yeah. December 15th. I have to pick him up at the prison since he won't have a ride.”

“What are you going to do when he gets home?”

“I haven't decided yet. I am so angry with him that I don't want him around Micah, but I don't really know what to do. I've been working my ass off, Melissa. Holding down two jobs is draining me. With him walking back into our lives after the last four years...it's too much.”

Melissa turned fully around so she could see her friend and leaned back against the counter. “Have you considered divorce? It wouldn't be difficult for you to get full custody, especially with his track record.”

“Yeah, I've been talking to this attorney that said he can help, but I can't afford it. With Travis just getting out, he has no money so I can't make him pay for it. I just don't know what to do,” Jenny said with a defeated look on her face.

“I can help you-”

“No. This isn't your problem, Melissa. You've done way too much for us already. I can't ask you to do this too.”

“You're not asking. I'm offering. That man is a loser, and all he'll do is keep dragging you down with him. You do not want to keep putting yourself or Micah through this.”

“...Fine. Let me at least think about it.”

They could hear the laughter coming from down the hall, so they knew the kids were alright and having fun. It was important to them, because they didn't want the children to have to deal with the reality of things. It wasn't a burden they should never have to bear. If Jenny and Melissa had it their way, the kids would remain innocent forever. Unfortunately, life didn't work out that way.

The kids were in Anna's room playing with the Hot Wheels and superheroes that she had. She never wanted dolls, not like her sister. Anna was more into the types of toys boys liked. Action figures, comic books, toy cars... The list went on. Whenever Micah came over, the three of them would spend a good portion of their time in her room having the plethora of superhero toys battle the various villains that she inevitably asked for. The bad guys were often her favorites. They represented the rebellious nature that Anna had become known for. They went against the norm, and that's what she loved about them.

After a couple hours of fighting the biggest war Anna's figurines had ever seen, the children were called to the dinner table. They didn't bother with cleaning up the toys, as they'd be back after eating to finish the epic battle between good and evil that was taking place in Elsa's old dollhouse. As usual, Elsa sat between Micah and Aunt Candace, and they actually held a conversation throughout the meal. Once again, the meal was picture perfect, with Melissa playing the perfect hostess.

Dinner went surprisingly well. Last year Dale and Candace got into a heated debate over Elsa's continued therapy, something that he was still adamantly against. He thought it was far too expensive and had done nothing for Elsa. Candace, on the other hand, argued that there was a change in her niece, and that it was proving to be effective. When Melissa and Jenny sided with her, Dale got pissed off and stormed out of the dining room. This year, everything went smoothly. No arguments, no backhanded compliments, no snark. It was actually a good dinner.

After dinner had been cleaned up after, and Dale had returned to the downstairs family room, the kids returned to Anna's room to finish their game. None of them were particularly in the mood though, as they were too stuffed to really play. So, instead, Elsa and Micah helped clean up the toys before going to her room to sit and talk. They talked quietly so as not to bother anyone.

“I don't want to go back to school on Monday,” Elsa said drearily.

“Is it because of Marshall?” Micah asked.

“Yeah. He hates me so much, and I don't know why.”

“Like I've said hundreds of times, he's a jerk. Just ignore him.”

“You don't understand, Micah. I do. He still picks on me.”

“Well, you should tell someone then.”

“What if they don't believe me?” Elsa said, slightly stressed.

“Elsa, they will. Just tell Mr. Steinbeck.”

“The principal won't believe me.”

“I'll go with you.”

Elsa flopped herself backwards onto her bed with a grunt, and stared up at the ceiling. “Why does my dad hate me?”

Taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed, Micah slowly shrugged. “I don't know. I wish I did. But you won't tell me everything.”

“I can't, Micah. Besides, it's my fault anyway.”

“What is your fault?”

“I just said I can't tell you.”

“I'm your best friend, Elsa. You can tell me anything.”

“You're my only friend.”

Just then, Jenny called for Micah to get ready to leave, interrupting their conversation. With a groan he scooted off the bed and gave Elsa a hug before trudging his way down the hall towards the stairs. Elsa watched from the banister at the top of the staircase as he and his mother said their goodbyes and left. Suddenly, she felt alone and depressed again. It happened every time. The only difference now was she was learning how to hide it from everyone. Except for Micah. He was the only one that ever knew how she was feeling or what she was thinking.

 

00000

 

The rest of the school year went on pretty much the same, and Elsa's tenth birthday came and went. Marshall still picked on Elsa as much as humanly possible, and she spent her weekends hanging out with Micah. At school, it was coming to be the end of the spring season and the weather was warming up. It wasn't raining as much, which meant hanging out at their favorite spot beneath the old oak tree was feasible again. For the past couple of months, they spent most of recess indoors at the cafeteria. There they had their own table and were able to talk about nothing in particular like usual.

Today was particularly nice out, and the grass was relatively dry. The two raced out to their spot beneath the tree, sat down, and talked. Unlike normal, it was a fairly serious conversation, and it was a subject that weighed heavily on Micah's chest.

“My parents are getting a divorce,” he told Elsa gloomily.

“I'm sorry, Micah. Do you know why?” she asked.

“Yeah, it's because my dad went to prison. I don't know why exactly, but I just know he did something bad. That's all my mom will tell me.”

“So what now?”

“He moved out last week to something called a half-way house. He lives with other people that I don't know. My mom said I'm not going to get to see him very much.”

“That's sad. I wish it didn't have to be that way for you.”

“Yeah, me too. What about you though? How are things with your dad?”

Elsa didn't answer right away, and instead drew her knees up tight against her chest and looked away towards the playground. “Can you keep a secret?” she asked apprehensively.

“Of course I can. You know that.”

“Okay, well... God, I don't know how to say this. He hurts me. All the time. But he does it when no one is around. I don't know why. But it's my fault. I misbehave and deserve it. He tells me so.”

Micah scrunched his eyebrows together and thought for a second before replying. When he did, he was very careful in what he said. “Elsa, I had no idea. But I can promise you one thing. You do not misbehave. I know you, and you are perfectly well-behaved. You never get in trouble at school, and I have never seen you get grounded.”

“I don't know what to do, Micah,” she said as she began to get teary eyed. “My mom does nothing to stop it. Plus, I have to make sure he doesn't do it to Anna too. So it has to be me for now.”

“Elsa, you need to tell someone.”

“Tell who, Micah? No one would believe me.”

“I don't know. Someone has to know. What about your counselor?”

“Dr. Cohen? I don't know...”

“Please, Elsa. Do this for me. Tell her.”

Soon the recess bell rang, calling the kids back to their classes. It felt like the longest walk they had ever taken, and they intended to drag it out as much as possible. Once they were back to the building, Micah walked her to her class before heading off to his own. He did that nearly every day now to help prevent Marshall from picking on her. For the time being, it seemed to work. Micah had become a little bigger than Marshall, so the bully stayed away from Elsa when her friend was around. So, he chose to stick to picking on her in class when he could.

That afternoon Elsa's mother picked her up like normal, and started asking her about her day. Elsa went over the lessons they had done in class, and mentioned Marshall picking on her yet again; she made sure to avoid the conversation she had with Micah at recess. For whatever reason, Melissa didn't say much about the bullying. She never did. She simply would sit there and dismissively nod at everything her daughter told her.

They eventually pulled into the familiar parking lot of Dr. Cohen's office building. Making their way through the lobby and up the stairs, Elsa soon found herself sitting in the same uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. They were a few minutes early, and she decided to busy herself with a magazine about dogs. She didn't really read it so much as look at the different pictures of puppies and coo over them. Most were adorable, although there were a couple she didn't care for at all. She really liked huskies, and they were one of the state's college mascots.

After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, Dr. Cohen came out and called Elsa back into her office. Her mother normally waited out in the lobby anymore. The sessions had become a lot more private, and even though Elsa didn't think it was helping much, they did make her feel slightly better afterwards. It mostly helped her learn how to cope with the bullying.

Taking a seat on her favorite couch, Elsa sank into the soft leather cushion. Dr. Cohen took the seat across from her as always, and had her clipboard that she wrote notes on. She smiled brightly at Elsa, the kind of smile that told her she was safe there.

“Elsa, it is so good to see you sweetheart. How are you doing lately?” Dr. Cohen asked.

“I'm okay,” was all Elsa replied with.

“Is Marshall still picking on you at school?”

“Yeah. I don't know why he won't leave me alone,” she said as she crossed her arms.

“Sometimes bullies have problems going on in their own lives that cause them to lash out at people. That could be what is happening with Marshall. Have you talked to anyone about it?”

“No. No one would believe me.”

“You don't know that. Bullying is a very serious issue. You need to talk to the principal, or have your mother do it.”

“My mom doesn't care. If she did she would have said something.”

“That's not true, Elsa. Your mother keeps bringing you to therapy, so clearly she does care.”

Elsa didn't respond, and they sat in silence for several seconds as Dr. Cohen wrote something down in her notebook. The scribbling of her pen was the only sound that could be heard in the deafening silence.

“So how about things between you and Micah?” Dr. Cohen finally asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you two still getting along? Are you still close? That sort of thing.”

“Oh. Yeah, we're still getting along fine. He's my best friend.”

“I know he is. Have you thought about making more friends since I last saw you?”

Shaking her head, Elsa toyed with the hem of her shirt and looked down at her feet. “None of the other kids like me. Most of them make fun of me. Micah is the only one that doesn't.”

“I see. How about at home? How are things going there?”

“Fine.”

“Elsa, last time I saw you things were not 'fine'. Please, don't lie to me.”

Elsa still wasn't looking at her, and she looked more defeated than ever. “My dad still hates me, and my mom doesn't care.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because it's true. My dad always yells at me and sends me to my room, even when I don't do anything wrong. He hurts me.”

“How does he hurt you?”

“I don't want to talk about it.”

“Elsa, I can't help you if you don't tell me.”

She was starting to get visibly upset, and her eyes began tearing up. Her whole demeanor became even more depressed than she already was. “I can't tell you.”

Once again, Dr. Cohen was silent as she scribbled down more notes into her little book. She didn't say anything for nearly two minutes, and when she did it was with a very serious tone of voice. “Elsa, keeping these things secret will only make them worse. I cannot help you if you won't tell me what is going on.”

“If I tell you, he'll hurt me. I deserve it.”

“No, Elsa, you don't.”

Elsa didn't say anything more, and Dr. Cohen decided to end their session a little early. When she walked Elsa out to the lobby, she pulled her mother aside to speak with her. “Mrs. Erickson, something is bothering Elsa a great deal, and I think we're finally getting closer to an answer. But I can't do anything about it just yet.”

“What does that mean? What is going on with my daughter?” Melissa demanded.

“She said that her father is hurting her, but she won't say anything more on the subject. Plus she seems to believe that whatever is happening is her fault, and that he'll hurt her more if she tells anyone.”

“That is ridiculous. Dale may be an ass at times, but he is not hurting Elsa. There is no way.”

“Mrs. Erickson, you do know that I am obligated by the state to report any suspected or admitted abuse, yes? Now then, I need to get a little deeper into this, but I believe Elsa when she tells me she is being hurt. To what extent, I don't know. At the very least, she believes she is being hurt, and that is enough to cause all of these symptoms. It has taken nearly four years to get this much information out of her. This is monumental, and it is also a classic sign. So please, do not dismiss what your daughter is saying. Right now, whether she wants to admit to it or not, she is crying out for help.”

Melissa stood there and thought over everything Dr. Cohen was saying to her, but there was still doubt. Things couldn't possibly be that bad. There was no way Dale was abusing their daughter. She firmly believed the man was a lot of things, but he was not a monster. He provided for them, helped raise the girls, and loved them both equally. It just simply made no sense for him to hurt either of them.

Elsa and her mother said their goodbyes and left the office. On the way home, Elsa stared out the window like normal, but she wasn't really paying attention. She kept playing over and over in her head all the things that had been said, and everything that had ever happened to her. When her mother was talking to Dr. Cohen, Elsa heard her say that she didn't believe that anything was going on. This only further proved that her mother didn't care, and now thought that she was a liar as well. She didn't think she could handle much more.

 

00000

 

After finishing her homework, Elsa decided to sit down on her bed and begin writing in her diary. She had asked for it for her birthday, and had been writing in it every day since. It had become her close friend, second only to Micah. But she couldn't always talk to him, and even when she did there were certain things she couldn't tell him. But she could tell her diary anything, because it was private. Nobody was allowed to read it, not even her parents.

So she sat on her bed and wrote about the day, the things that Marshall had said and done, and her session with Dr. Cohen. She wrote everything down, no matter how small a detail it was. Her favorite parts were when she wrote about her time with Micah. Those were her most precious moments. Memories that nobody could ever take away from her. Everything they did together lifted her spirits and made her feel like she was wanted and needed, like she was more than this broken little girl that nobody gave a damn about. For Micah, she was worth something. She didn't know what exactly, but it was better than what she felt like most of the time. For her, he meant everything. He was that important to her. She wasn't quite sure what that meant yet, but that's how she felt. All of this was written in the pages of her secret little book.

After dinner, she took a shower and brushed her teeth before heading to bed. Her mother didn't read to them anymore, so Elsa took it upon herself to read to Anna. There were plenty of books to choose from, and she had finally found her favorite. It was a series of books about a girl that found a secret door to another world, and became a sorceress and a hero to it's people. There was one book in particular where the girl goes to fight an evil dragon, only to discover that the dragon isn't evil at all. He's actually rather nice, and that it was the trick of another wizard that made him seem like a monster. That book stuck out the most to her, and she had read and reread it numerous times since her mother had bought it.

Once Anna had started to drift off to sleep, Elsa quietly tiptoed out of the room and made her way back to her own. She crawled under the covers and dug through the mountain of stuffed animals and dolls for her favorite little red dragon, snuggled with it, and tried to meld herself with the bed. Moments later, she could hear her parents arguing downstairs. The floor was thick enough to muffle whatever was being said, but not the intensity or the volume. It was obvious they were being very loud, louder than normal, and she rolled over to try and ignore it. But it went on for a while, and she tried her best to block it out, but couldn't.

Eventually, at some point, the fighting finally died out. Strangely, there were no slamming of doors like normal. Elsa was only half awake, so she barely registered what was going on, but she did hear the creaking of footsteps out in the hall. She wasn't sure if she should be scared or not, and after they stopped she decided to hide under the covers, scoot as close to the wall as she could, and closed her eyes tight. When the sound stopped, she was shivering in fear. But after some time passed and nothing happened, she slowly began to drift back off to sleep. She didn't hear the door to her room open, nor hear the person responsible for the footsteps creep inside.


	5. A Brush With Death

September 15th, 2011. The new school year had just begun, and there was already a noticeable energy emitting from the students. The sixth graders were preparing to head to camp for a week of outdoor activities and bonding. It was a tradition the schools in the area had participated in for years, and it was a highlight of the year from most of the kids. They'd be mingling with students from other schools, and possibly making some new friends. At least, that's what Elsa's mother hoped for.

Once school had let out for the day, her mother picked the girls and Micah up to go to the local sporting goods store to grab a few necessities for their trip next week. They were mainly in need of sleeping bags and hiking boots for the various trails around the camp. She also had to make sure to pick up some cream for spider bites, since where they were headed was sometimes infested with them. The woods had all sorts of things hiding in the trees and under the dead leaves on the ground, and the cabins the kids were staying in had been rumored to have issues in the past. So, she was making sure that they were ready just in case.

They met with Micah's mother afterwards for an early dinner at Applebee's, since she had just gotten off of work shortly before school let out. She had finally managed to find a decent job as an assistant at a dental office in the same building as Dr. Cohen's practice. It paid well enough so that she could quit her other job busing tables at Olive Garden in the next town over. Now she was able to spend more time with her son, and provide for him better than she had in a long time. It was such a lucky break for her, and her boss was willing to help her go to school to become a licensed dental assistant. When everyone found out, they were thrilled for her.

It didn't help Micah with the issue of his father, however. The man was still in and out of jail for petty crimes, and was back to selling dope. It was the same reason he was arrested and sent to prison before. This time, however, Micah knew the reason for it. Jenny had decided it was time for him to know the truth about his father, and when he found out, he wasn't really all that surprised. His father had been such a letdown and absentee in his life that he was hardly fazed by the news. The man never paid child support, never came to see him even on his birthday, and was overall a poor role model. It was fine, though. Micah no longer cared.

The next day at school, the kids were all still busy getting ready for their trip on Monday. The teachers were finding it difficult to keep them all in check, as many were bouncing around in their seats and chatting with everyone. Lessons were difficult to get through, and it was obvious many of the children weren't going to retain much with camp being the only thing on their minds. 

Even Elsa was somewhat excited, as it meant a week away from her father, who had begun to get even worse with her. She was still scared of the man, even more so now that she was getting older, and she had no idea how to keep away from him when she was at home. Being alone with him was torturous. It had gotten to the point where she hadn't been downstairs in the family room since Christmas the year prior. She even disliked spending time in her room anymore, but not nearly as much as the downstairs. At least she still had her diary to keep her company when she was there.

At lunch, she and Micah had started sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, mostly so they could keep an eye out for Marshall and his band of thugs. This year a new boy had joined in on the torment, and they were getting brave in their harassment. Micah was no longer enough to keep them away. So now they had to hide away in the lunch room. It was the only place they had found any solace from the menace and his cohorts.

During lunch, Elsa and Micah were chatting about what they wanted to do at camp, and were hoping they'd get to see each other there. They separated they boys from the girls in the cabins for obvious reasons, but during the day there didn't seem to be any problems. Of course, they were merely speculating what was going to happen. Neither of them actually knew.

As they were talking, they were interrupted by a newcomer. He was fairly tall, bigger than Micah, and was what one could only describe as burly. The hair on his head was shaggy and a dirty blonde, his eyes were light brown, and he had a large, bulbous nose. But he had a friendly smile on his face, which eased the awkwardness a little.

“Hey, do you guys mind if I sit here with you?” he asked in a slightly brusque manner.

Elsa and Micah looked at each for a moment before they both shrugged at him. “I don't think I've seen you around school before,” Micah said suddenly.

“Yeah, my family just moved here before school started. We're from out of state. The name's Kristoff,” the boy said, introducing himself.

“I'm Micah, and this is my friend Elsa. Are you in sixth grade too?”

“Yeah. I'm kind of looking forward to going to camp. But I doubt it'll be anything like real camping.”

“Why do you say that?” Elsa asked.

“My parents took me camping all the time back home. We practically lived out in the woods. This whole thing doesn't sound like normal camping to me. But it should still be fun.”

“Oh no, here comes Marshall...” Elsa groaned.

As the boy walked up to the table, his posse close behind him, he had a sneer on his face that sort of ended in a partial grin. “So you losers are going to camp too, huh?”

“Go away, Marshall. Now,” Micah demanded sternly.

“Or what, Aldrin? Huh? You're not going to do anything in here.”

“Do you really want to test that theory?”

“Please, we both know you'd lose.”

This was enough to cause Kristoff to stand up and tower over Marshall and his friends. They suddenly fell very quiet. “Look, I don't know who you are or what your problem is with these guys, but you're not going to stand here and insult and threaten my friends. So, if I were you, I'd take these clowns of yours and scram before I get angry.”

It didn't take long for his message to sink in. Marshall and the others backed away before quickly walking to the other side of the cafeteria and through the doors leading back the classrooms.

“There, that should keep them from bothering you,” Kristoff said as he took his seat again.

“Holy crap,” Micah exclaimed. “I've been trying to get rid of them for years. They usually pick on Elsa every chance they get. Tell him how miserable you've been.”

“They've been doing this since kindergarten. It's gotten so bad that I've been afraid to come to school. If it wasn't for Micah... I don't know what I would have done,” Elsa said.

Kristoff hummed to himself briefly, then folded his arms. “Well, you don't have to worry about them anymore. At least not this year. We won't let them do anything to you.”

“No offense, but why do you care? You've known us for maybe five minutes.”

“You seem like good people, and you certainly need some help. So, why not be friends?” he replied with a shrug.

The rest of lunch was fairly enjoyable. They mostly talked about where Kristoff was from, why his parents had moved to the city, and how long they planned on being there. From what he said, it was a new permanent home for him. His father got a great job offer in the area working for a major airplane manufacturer, and was looking at making a lot of money. So, he was here to stay. They learned he was an only child, but had a ton of cousins, nieces, and nephews. His family was rather expansive from the sounds of it.

The school day ended on a good note. Marshall backed off for the time being and left Elsa alone, and they had no homework to worry about. The ride home was quiet, except for Anna's nonstop chatter about what she did at school. So maybe it wasn't so quiet. But it was a decent ride nonetheless. They stopped at the grocery store on their way in order to grab a few things for Elsa's trip. Afterwards, they were meeting up with Micah and his mother for a movie night.

The next day, Elsa was home alone with her father. It was excruciating and tense. Her mother had taken Anna out to run a few errands, and wasn't going to be back for several hours. So it was just her and her dad. Luckily, he kept to the downstairs for the most part. There was a football game on the TV, and he was nursing another beer while watching. She could hear him occasionally cheer or yell, depending on who was winning.

She kept her door closed the whole time just to avoid listening to him. She was reading one of the books her mother had bought recently, trying her best to occupy herself. Micah wasn't home, otherwise she'd be on the phone talking to him. So her book was her only friend for the time being, which was fine. It didn't bother her that she was alone. With her father. In the same house.

After a while, the hooting and hollering from downstairs died down, and the house fell eerily quiet. At first it didn't register, as she was busy with her book. But then she heard the creaking of the floorboards out in the hall. Her breathing instantly sped up, her eyes widened, and her heart began to beat as if it were going to explode. Then there was a knock at the door.

Scooting to the corner of her bed, Elsa brought her knees up to her chest and hugged herself. “Y-yes?” she asked timidly.

The door creaked open, and in stepped her father. The stench of beer was heavy on him, and there was a strange look on his face. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”

“U-um, fine,” she replied with a slight stutter.

Her father nodded and strode across the room in order to take a seat on the edge of her bed. “Good. Are you ready for camp?”

Elsa didn't say anything, only nodded. She was shaking slightly, but she doubted her father noticed. If he did, he didn't show it.

“You know,” he started to say, bringing a hand up to her legs and resting it on one, rubbing up and down on it, “I went to camp around your age and enjoyed it. So I hope you enjoy it as well. It was a good experience.”

Quickly, Elsa brushed his hand away from her, but he brought it back moments later. She was terrified. When she brushed it away again, it angered him and he suddenly backhanded her right across the face, causing her to yelp out in pain.

“Don't you dare,” he snarled drunkenly.

“P-p-please, no!” Elsa begged frantically.

After looking her up and down for a brief moment, her father stood back up and walked towards the door. “Don't you ever do that to me again,” he said as he began to undo his belt and slammed the door shut.

00000

By the time Monday came, Elsa couldn't get out of the house fast enough. On the ride to school, she tried really hard not to think about what happened Saturday. Her safety net was at school and getting on those buses in just a couple hours. Her class was sharing a bus with Micah and Kristoff's, so the three of them were going to get to hang out the whole way to camp. The teachers and principal all said that it was roughly a three hour bus ride, so they had plenty of time to hang out and chit chat. Hopefully it would be enough to take her mind off things.

The morning was fairly busy as the kids were doing last minute checks of their things to make sure everything was where it should be. The buses arrived about an hour after school started, and everyone got excited as they were led out to their designated rides. Stowing their things into the compartments on the sides of the buses, the kids were soon loaded up and chaos then ensued as they all fought over who would sit where. Elsa managed to save a seat for Micah, who arrived shortly after she did. Kristoff got stuck sitting behind them, but it didn't make it all that difficult for them to talk on the way there.

Once the buses were at capacity, they revved up and were on their way towards the highway. It was fairly quiet for the first half hour or so, and then the kids started to get bored and chatter practically erupted. Elsa busied herself with looking out the window, watching as the countryside slowly passed by. There was going to be a lot of scenery to take in over the course of the trip, and she wanted to see as much of it as she could. She found it to be rather calming.

“You look down,” Micah eventually said, interrupting her thoughts.

“Oh. It's nothing,” she lied.

“Elsa, you know that's not true. We've been friends a long time. Talk to me.”

“There is nothing wrong. Honest.”

“Why are you lying to me? You've been doing that a lot lately.”

Elsa didn't answer right away. Instead, she returned her gaze to the view outside the bus window, then sighed. “Do you remember how I told you my dad was hurting me?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, it's getting worse. I don't know how to stop it.”

“You have to tell someone. I don't understand why you won't.”

“Because, Micah, nobody will believe me. I don't have any proof of what he does.”

“If he's hurting you, then there has to be marks. Like bruises or something.”

“He isn't hurting me like that.”

“Then how? I don't understand.”

“Look, I can't talk about it. Okay? It's embarrassing enough as it is.”

“Elsa, I just want to help.”

“I know, but you can't. No one can.”

“Why don't you tell a teacher then?” Kristoff said suddenly.

“Were you listening the whole time?” Elsa asked, mortified.

“Well, kind of. Not entirely on purpose. But if your pop is doing something bad, you really should tell someone.”

“But don't you guys see? I can't. I just can't!” she exclaimed, getting visibly upset.

“Whoa, calm down,” Kristoff urged. “I'm just saying that it will help if you do. Teachers are supposed to be on our side for stuff like this. And if I'm not mistaken, you said on Friday that you have a therapist, right? Tell them. They'll know how to help. That's their job.”

“I don't see Dr. Cohen until next month. Who knows what will happen before then.”

“Exactly. You don't know. That's why you need to tell someone. Please,” Micah pleaded.

“But you don't understand. If I tell someone, he'll just hurt Anna instead. I can't let that happen.”

“So what? You're just going to let him keep hurting you?”

“For now, yes.”

They fell silent for awhile, until Kristoff started telling them stories about his times camping. He was good at that sort of thing, and had lots of stories to tell. It was rather fun for the others to listen to, and it even made them laugh at times. The time flew by, and he managed to fill in nearly two hours with stories until they arrived at their destination.

As the camp came into view, a large wooden sign passed by on the side of the road reading 'Welcome To Camp Lhookwalh' in thick white letters. The area was heavily forested, and the evergreens stretched high into the sky. The road in was mostly dirt and gravel, and wasn't flat in the least, making the buses rock and bounce around on the rough terrain. The teachers started yelling for everyone to sit down so nobody fell and got hurt. After a short bit, the buses pulled into the parking area near the camp entrance. They finally rolled to a stop, and the teachers began leading the kids out to the assembly area near the main office. The sun was beating down on the camp, and the lack of a breeze didn't help with the heat any.

While the kids were being gathered into something that resembled an orderly assembly after unloading their things from the buses, the camp councilors began walking around and introducing themselves to the groups of kids everywhere. Elsa ended up getting grouped with a bunch of girls she didn't know from a couple other classes, and her councilor was some young woman named Amy. She seemed nice, and had a sort of bubbly personality, but also didn't come across as too terribly intelligent. Elsa wasn't sure what to think of her.

A few minutes later, the councilors began leading the kids further into the campground towards a bunch of cabins off to one side. The girls were led to a handful of cabins designated 'Oak' and 'Pine'. They were small and quaint, and had the outer facade of a log cabin like one would see in the movies. The interior was a little less rustic, with wood paneling and a finished hardwood floor. There were four bunk beds per cabin, and the beds looked like they had seen better days. There were remnants of old stickers stuck to the sides of the beds, much like the ones you would place on the front of a school binder, and there were so many scratch marks that it was hard to determine what the original finish of the wood was.

The other girls immediately made a move for the different beds, leaving the bottom bunk on one of the beds against the back wall open for Elsa. It was perfectly fine by her. She preferred the lower bunk anyway. It also felt safe to have her back away from the door. It was a habit she had gotten into at home. But here she didn't have her father to be concerned with.

The girls were left to settle in for the time being, and their councilor left to check on the other cabins. While she was unpacking her things for the next few days, Elsa could hear the other girls talking, but chose to ignore them. Most of the time it was meaningless and inane nonsense that she didn't want to be bothered with. One thing she had learned from her years of school was that she had nothing in common with the other girls her age. She was simply too quiet and introverted, which most kids didn't seem to be. But she had been shy her whole life, and she always thought she was weird compared to the other kids. Marshall made sure to remind her of that on a near daily basis.

As she was busying herself with organizing her clothes, one of the girls came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. When Elsa looked up at her, the girl was smiling and toying with her short, jet black hair.

“What's your name?” the girl asked abruptly.

“Um, Elsa.”

“I'm Rose. I'm in Mr. Lawrence's class for home room.”

“I'm in Ms. Clover's class. I think my friend has the same teacher as you.”

“Really? What's her name?”

“His name is Micah Aldrin,” Elsa said as she returned to sorting through her things.

“Oh, I know him! He's in my science class too. He was my lab partner.”

Elsa didn't really respond with much more than a nod and a hum. She hoped that if she kept looking busy that the girl would leave her alone. It didn't seem to work though.

“I heard that we get to go on a tour of the camp soon. Want to be my buddy?”

“Why?”

“Because you seem cool,” Rose said nonchalantly.

Elsa was taken aback by this statement. “I seem cool? You clearly don't know me.”

“Are you not cool?”

“I'm the teacher's pet according to everyone, and a weirdo. Everyone avoids talking to me if they can. I'm normally really shy and quiet and like to keep to myself. Micah is one of the only people to ever be nice to me or think I'm worth being friends with.”

“Well, now I do too.”

“But why? You just met me.”

“I can just tell. We're gonna be friends.”

Not sure how to take this news, Elsa sat down on her bunk and just watched as the other girls talked and went through their things. After a little while their councilor came back and called them out for a tour of the camp.

The place wasn't all that big, but there were lots of hiking trails, and a lake nearby. Since it was summer time, swimming was permitted as long as there was a lifeguard on duty. But as they soon found out, their days were going to be relatively structured. They would have free time of course, but a lot of the stuff they would be doing was team building exercises. They were going to learn about first aid and wilderness safety, do some arts and crafts, camp outs, and challenges of various types. It sounded as if they were going to be rather busy.

The councilors didn't waste any time in beginning the kids' activities. Elsa was in the first group to learn all the first aid stuff they'd need to know. They covered everything from treating bumps and scrapes to more advanced things such as CPR. As usual, she made sure to pay close attention to everything they were taught, and being the fast learner that she is, she caught on very quickly. Councilor Amy was quite impressed with her.

Soon it was lunchtime, and the kids headed to the lunch room to get served some mediocre burgers and fries. The food was dry and bland, and no one was all that thrilled to eat it. Micah had managed to reserve a table for him and his friends near the front of the hall. Taking a bite of his food while he waited for the others to arrive, he immediately spit it out and had to drink some of the milk that came with his meal. He didn't think milk and hamburgers mixed, but there was little he could do about the bizarre decision. When his friends did finally arrive, neither of them looked too happy with the food either. Then he noticed a girl with black hair following Elsa, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Who's this?” he asked.

“Oh, this is Rose. My bunk mate and new friend, apparently,” Elsa said. She didn't sound too sure of the situation herself.

The girl had a big dopey smile on her face, and waved rather enthusiastically to everyone. “Hi! It's really cool to meet you guys. Except for you, Micah. I already knew you. But it's still really neat to meet you outside of class!”

The girls sat down together, and Kristoff didn't seem even remotely fazed by the appearance of someone new. “New friend, huh?”

Elsa just looked down at her tray of food and lightly blushed. “Um, yeah. I guess.”

“Cool. Name's Kristoff.”

“So what do you guys think so far?” Micah asked, breaking up the awkwardness for Elsa's sake.

“It's not quite what I expected,” Elsa said. “Of course, I'm not sure what I expected. I've never gone camping before. This isn't what it's actually like, is it?”

“Heck no,” Kristoff adamantly replied. “Real camping involves tents, fire pits, going to the bathroom in the woods... Just sort of being connected with nature. None of this nonsense.”

“I take it you don't like it,” Micah asked.

“I don't know yet. All we've done is learn to how to tie some knots. I already knew how to do most of them. My pop taught me that stuff a long time ago. Apparently these camp councilors have never seen a kid capable of tying a slipknot before.”

“I don't even know what that is,” Rose chimed in.

“Don't worry, you'll learn soon enough,” the burly blonde said with a smirk.

“Looks like we have some free time after lunch. At least that's what Joseph said,” Micah said, changing the subject entirely.

“Who's Joseph?”

“Oh, our councilor. You forgot his name already?”

“I didn't bother paying attention.”

“Maybe you should have.”

“Meh.”

“So what do you guys want to do then?” Elsa asked.

“I sort of want to go check out the lake. I heard we're allowed to go swimming,” Micah replied.

“Micah, you don't know how to swim.”

“It's not like I'd go to the deep part. I'd stay near the shore.”

“But that isn't really swimming,” Rose said. “I mean, what's the point?”

“I don't know. I just don't want to be left out,” he admitted with a shrug.

Elsa turned to scan over the crowded mess hall, primarily looking for Marshall and praying that he wasn't going to bother them while at camp. Hopefully, he'd be too busy to do any bullying. She hadn't seen him on the bus, but that didn't mean anything. There had been three buses.

“Well, we can at least head down to the dock and check out the water. I caught a glimpse of it coming in and it looked beautiful,” Elsa finally said as she returned her attention to her friends.

After they finished their less than satisfying lunch, the group headed down the path that led to the dock. It stretched out into the water nearly thirty feet, but was somewhat rickety and old. The boards creaked under their weight, but seemed sturdy enough to hold. At the far end were a couple of cleats with some boats tied off to them.

Micah took the lead and headed for the end of the dock, and looked out over the water. The lake was calm and serene, the mirror-like surface unmarred by the rippling effects of a leaf or insect landing on the top. There were no signs of fish being in the water, but that was unlikely. It was the middle of the day, and it seemed strange that they weren't breaking the surface to catch the bugs that buzzed too close to the water. The air seemed a little cooler here, most likely due to the cold depths mingling with the heat bearing down on them from above.

“This is pretty cool,” he said as he approached the end of the dock.

“You can see the mountains from here,” Elsa added breathlessly.

“This is what you go camping for. Not all that nonsense back there,” Kristoff said with a jab of his thumb back towards the camp.

“When do you think they'll let us go for a swim?” Rose asked as she sat down on the edge of the wooden platform, kicking her feet.

“No idea. Maybe this afternoon?”

Taking another step forward, Micah leaned over the edge of the dock and looked down into the water. “It's kind of hard to see in there.”

“Micah, please get away from there,” Elsa begged. “You're going to fall in.”

“It's fi-”

He was cut off abruptly as the wood planks beneath his feet snapped, sending him reeling forward and face first into the murky water below. Before anyone could react, he began to sink deeper into the water.

“Micah!” Elsa shrieked.

“Wait here, I'll go get help,” Kristoff assured her as he turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the camp.

Panicking, Elsa decided that she couldn't wait for help to arrive. As quickly as she could, she slipped off her shoes and dove in after him. The water was deep and dark, and she could barely see anything. She felt around for him, praying that she could find him struggling. After about 10 seconds of frantic searching, she had to resurface to get some air before diving back down. When she reached the bottom, she felt something grab onto her arm. She realized immediately that it was his hand, and with as much strength as she had, she pulled on it and swam back up to the surface as fast as humanly possible.

When she resurfaced, there were other people already there near the lake looking out to see what was happening. She struggled to drag him towards the shore, but miraculously managed to make it in record time. It concerned her, though, that he was no longer moving or struggling, and as she swam with him, she kept reassuring him that he was going to be okay.

Elsa finally managed to pull him up to shore, and laid him down on the wet sand. His lips were an icy blue and cold, and it terrified her immensely. Then she remembered the CPR training they had learned just hours earlier. Quickly, she started with the chest compressions, counting to ten. Then she tilted his head back and blew air down his throat, trying to get him to actually breathe. She repeated this process, pumping on his chest and trying to push air down into his lungs. At first it seemed like minutes had passed, but eventually he started to cough and vomit up the water he had swallowed.

“Oh god, Micah,” she cried as she wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head close to her chest. She was sobbing and scared out of her mind.

He shuddered for a couple minutes until one of the councilors came and wrapped him up in a blanket and walked him off towards the nurse's station. Elsa followed close behind, and ignored the councilor's orders to head back. She didn't give a damn about anything but Micah's well-being.

Inside, the small building didn't look like much. There was a row of four beds lined against the wall, and there were a handful of cabinets filled with medical supplies like bandage wrap and disinfectant. The woman inside ushered Micah to one of the beds, and Elsa took a seat on the bed across from him. The nurse gave her an odd look but said nothing. After checking him over, taking his temperature and making sure he was coherent, the nurse left to talk to one of the councilors.

Leaning over to get closer to Micah, Elsa smacked him on the arm as hard as she could. “You idiot! You could have died! I told you to get back!”

“Ow! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to fall in.”

“That isn't good enough, Micah. I was scared as hell. I thought I had lost you...”

“I know. I'm really sorry. I'll listen to you next time.”

“You had better. I will not be burying the most important person in my life because he is careless.”

“Wait. I'm the most important person in your life?”

Suddenly, Elsa blushed a deep red and looked down at her bare feet. “Well, yeah... I, um, I...”

“You what?” he asked.

“Never mind. It doesn't matter,” she said hurriedly.

“Don't think you're going to get away with not telling me. I'm going to get it out of you one way or another,” he replied with a smirk.

“Whatever. How do you feel?”

“Cold. Really cold.”

“Don't you ever do that to me again.”

“I promise, I won't. Oh, and thanks... For saving me.”

00000

The rest of the week went by in a blur, but luckily without any further incident. Friday morning, the kids found themselves right back on the buses they had arrived on. Elsa and her friends all managed to get a couple seats next to each other, and spent the three hour ride home talking about everything they had done over the course of the last four days. Aside from Micah almost dying, everyone had a relatively good time.

Rose and Kristoff had somehow worked their way into becoming friends with Elsa and Micah. She didn't know how or why, but Elsa had grown fond of them both since she first met them. They were pretty relaxed and didn't pick on her, and actually looked out for her. At one point Marshall had made another attempt to bully Elsa when the boys weren't around, but Rose quickly stepped up to the plate and slapped him silly. Once he went running off, Rose turned to Elsa and gave her the biggest, brightest smile she could muster. The best part was it was completely genuine.

The buses arrived at the school shortly after lunch had finished, but the cafeteria remained open until the sixth graders sat down to eat. After lunch, it was only a couple hours until they went home, and the teachers basically just let the kids do whatever until then. The middle school wasn't as big as the elementary school had been, with only three grade levels being represented, and it was difficult to keep the kids quiet. They didn't get a recess anymore like they used to.

After school was let out, Elsa, Micah, and Melissa crammed all their luggage into the back of the car before heading home. Her mother had agreed to let Micah stay the night, which Elsa hadn't expected. He had on a few of occasions in the past, but it took a lot of convincing to get it to happen. They had a spare guest room that was never used, so he got to sleep in there whenever he did actually get to stay.

Once they were home and unpacked, they headed to Elsa's room to hang out. Her room had changed drastically over the years, with most of the girly stuff that she used to have replaced with things teenagers typically liked. She had a couple posters for a some rock bands that she liked – which surprised her parents – and a TV set with a Playstation 3 hooked up to it. There was her pet rat Pixel, whose cage sat on top of her dresser. Her desk had a laptop on it that she used to Skype with Micah when they weren't together, or they just texted one another on their phones. In the corner was a new rounded bookshelf with a bunch of books that she had begged for, such as the ever popular Harry Potter series.

Tossing their things into the corner of the room, they both took a seat on Elsa's bed. Neither of them talked for several minutes as they just sort of unwound and relaxed in silence. Then Elsa turned and punched Micah in the arm as hard as she could. When he looked at her with confusion in his eyes, she gave him mock-angry stare.

“You jerk! You ever do that again and I will kill you myself,” she exclaimed with a huff.

“What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do anything!” he argued.

“I'm talking about when you fell in the lake, dork.”

“Hey, you already yelled at me for that. You can't do it twice.”

“I can too. I'm still mad at you for it.”

“Elsa, that isn't fair. I said I was sorry.”

“Micah, what if you had died? What if I wasn't fast enough? What if I froze and didn't do anything? I would have lost you.”

“Geez, Elsa, I didn't know it bothered you that much.”

“Of course it did! I barely slept all week because of it! What would I do if you were to go and die on me?”

“I don't know. I imagine it would suck.”

“That's the best you can come up with? Micah, I would be devastated! I can barely handle things when you aren't here. Think of how my life would be if you were dead. Or your mother's. Hell, Anna and my mother would be upset too. So you would be leaving behind people that care about you,” she said as she shoved a finger into his chest.

Micah was nervously scratching the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but at Elsa. He was rather ashamed, and it showed on his face. For that very reason, he felt like the world's biggest jerk. “I'm really sorry, Elsa. I didn't know you cared that much about me.”

“Are you stupid? I've already told you that you're the most important thing in my life. Without you, I would be a complete wreck. I'm a mess already as it is, but you make it better.”

“...I'm sorry. I really am. I was careless, and I should have listened to you. This is why I need to learn how to swim. In case you didn't notice, I sank like a rock.”

Elsa let a groan of frustration, this time a little more genuine than before. “Of course I noticed! You weren't in the water more than five seconds before you were sucked down. I jumped in almost immediately after you disappeared. You are so damn lucky I know how to swim. I have never been more scared in my life. I almost didn't find you, and then it was super hard to drag you to shore. There were so many people watching. Nobody bothered to help. They just stood there and watched. I guess it was pretty convenient that we learned CPR that morning.”

“That is actually kind of funny,” he said as he tried to fake a laugh.

“No, it's not! God, I can't believe you right now. If you were my boyfriend I would be breaking up with you rig-” She cut herself off as soon as she realized what she had said, and then blushed a shade of crimson red that heated her face like a burner on a stove top.

Micah didn't say anything for a minute, almost as embarrassed as Elsa was by that comment. When he tried to talk, he had to cough a couple times to try and clear both his throat and his head. “Yeah, well, um, I won't ever let it happen again. I swear. I'm not going to do anything stupid or dangerous from here on out. I've learned my lesson. I don't ever want you pissed off at me again either. It makes me feel like crap. Letting you down is not something I ever want to do ever again.”

“You didn't let me down. You just scared me to death. It's just that you can't be so reckless. The dock wasn't stable enough to begin with. What you did just made it worse.”

“Oh yeah. You were going to say something back at camp when we were in the nurse's station, but you changed your mind. What was it?”

“What are you... Oh. That. It was nothing,” she lied.

“Oh come on, just tell me. It was obviously important enough to make you all embarrassed about it. Why can't you just let it out?” he asked, practically begging.

“It's not something I ever meant to tell you, and I'm never going to tell you. So just drop it.”

“Please?”

“No. Now shut up.”

“I'm going to get you to tell me someday.”

“No, you're not. Now then, do you want to play something on the Playstation or what?”


	6. First Kiss

October 25th, 2012. Elsa and Micah were siting on the bed in her room playing a nice, calming, cooperative game of Borderlands 2 on her PlayStation 3. It was late October, and the weather outside was dreary and gray. They had been spending a lot more time together during the week due to the fact that Micah and his mother had moved closer during the summer. Because of her job, they could now afford a small three-bedroom house only a few blocks away. So now, they were basically inseparable. Elsa couldn't possibly be happier.

Seventh grade was fast underway, and it was proving to be an interesting year. The most exciting bit, as far as Elsa was concerned, was that they were going to get to dissect frogs and cats later in the year. The dead cats were provided by the local animal shelter after they euthanized them. A lot of strays ended up that way, and with so many with untreatable diseases and other problems, they usually had to be put down. It worked out perfectly for the biology students.

Micah, however, was not so thrilled. He couldn't handle real life blood and gore, and the very thought of cutting into a dead body caused him to shudder violently and turn pale. Fake violence, on the other hand, didn't seem to bother him. Not even the type in movies. But any time one of them got a scrape or cut, he couldn't be around it. If it was him that was bleeding, he panicked and looked away while Elsa or his mother cleaned it up for him. Elsa and Anna both loved to give him a hard time about it. It didn't help that he was also terrified of needles. It made getting a flu shot rather difficult.

Their friendship had become a lot deeper since the day he almost drowned. After Elsa berated him and told him how important he really was to her, they were much closer than ever before. He was constantly making sure that he wasn't doing something utterly stupid or that would get him in trouble with her again, and she was constantly babying him to the point that it was almost smothering. Micah didn't mind though. He never did when it was her. But at least now he was beginning to know why.

They were busy killing bandits and listening to Claptrap run his robotic mouth when Anna waltzed in with the house phone in her hand. She waited patiently for her sister to notice her, but Elsa was too wrapped up in her game to notice much around her. Eventually, Anna's patience wore very thin, and she waved her hand in front of them both to get their attention.

“Hello, Elsa! Hey! You have a phone call from Rose. Answer it,” she commanded in her most bossy tone she could manage.

“Ugh, fine. Hand it here,” Elsa said absentmindedly. She still hadn't taken her eyes off the screen.

After handing the phone over to her sister, Anna sat down on the bed next to them and decided to watch them as they played. “So which one of you is on the bottom?” she asked.

“I am,” Micah replied, paying little attention to the redhead.

“Hello?” Elsa asked into the phone, barely remembering that it was Rose on the other end.

_“Hey, what are you doing next Wednesday?”_ Rose responded.

“Next Wednesday? That's Halloween isn't it?”

_“Yeah. Do you want to come over? We're sort of having a party.”_

“A party. Don't you remember who you're talking to? I don't do parties.”

_“Oh come on! Kyle Summers will be there. My parents know his parents, in case you were wondering.”_

“I wasn't. And so what if Kyle is there. Why does that matter?”

_“Because I know you think he's cute. You told me so not two weeks ago.”_

“So I think he's cute, so what?”

This perked Micah's ears right up, and made him do a double-take at his friend, who somehow hadn't noticed.

_“Look, I'm trying to hook you up. He apparently likes you too. I think you should consider it. You've never had a boyfriend before.”_

“So? Neither have you.”

_“I have too. So is Kyle going to be a thing or what?”_

“I don't know, Rose. I really don't like parties, even just casual ones. Why do you think I don't have birthday parties? I don't like the cake or presents or the attention. I don't think a Halloween party is going to be my kind of thing.”

_“Come on! You need to have some fun. Micah and Kristoff are invited as well.”_

“What makes you think that either of them want to go?”

_“I already asked them.”_

“When the hell did Rose ask you to go to her Halloween party?” Elsa asked Micah, slightly surprised.

“Earlier today. I think it was in fourth or fifth period. Why?”

“She didn't bother to ask me,” Elsa stated, making absolutely sure that Rose could hear her on the other end.

_“Elsa, I'm sorry. I didn't get a chance to talk to you about it when I saw you. So are you coming or what?”_

“You are so lucky I like you.”

_“Yes! The party starts at 7 pm, but you guys can come over whenever. It's mostly going to be my parents' friends anyway, but a couple of them are bringing their kids. Most of them are younger than us, but Kyle will be there and you two can hook up!”_

“Rose, I am not making any promises there, alright? You don't need to try and play matchmaker.”

_“Whatever. I know you'll cave before long. Anyway, I gotta go. My parents are yelling at me to do my homework. Later.”_

After she hung up the phone, Elsa finally noticed the look she was getting from her friend. It wasn't a very amused one. “What?”

“You think Kyle is cute? And what, Rose is trying to hook you two up?”

“Yeah, apparently. Why do you care?”

“I don't,” he lied.

“Funny. Seems to me like it's bothering you.”

“It is not.”

“Now I know you're lying.”

“You frustrate me. But seriously, Kyle? Why him?”

“I don't know. It's not really something I've ever considered. This is mostly Rose's doing. She wants me to have a boyfriend. Thinks it'll bring me out of my shell or something. I honestly am not all that interested. I made the mistake of telling her that he was slightly pleasing to the eye and she took it as I was interested in him. I think she's wasting her time, honestly.”

“So you're not going to date him?” He sounded almost pleased.

“I'm not even fourteen yet. Dating isn't something I've ever thought about. Besides, I'm too messed up to even worry about that stuff.”

“Elsa, you are not messed up.”

“Yes, Micah, I am. Remember all the things I've told you over the last few years?”

Before answering, he shot a quick glance at Anna, making sure to phrase his answer carefully. “You mean all the stuff about him?”

“Yes. I know I've never told you everything, and maybe someday I'll be able to, but the stuff he's put me through has really screwed with me. I'm not okay.”

“Elsa, you are not screwed up in the head. I live with you. You're always on top of things, you always seem pretty happy, and you never act weird. So I don't know why you think you're not alright.” Anna finally chimed in.

Her statement made Elsa smile a little, but it wasn't really enough. She knew it wasn't true. There was no way it could be. Not with what went on in her head.

“Anna, can you give us a few minutes?” Elsa asked her sister.

“Okay. Just tell me when you're done being secretive.”

After Anna left, Elsa turned to her friend and had a very serious look on her face. “Look, I'm a god damn mess. I have thought about hurting myself. Killing myself, Micah. Kids our age aren't supposed to think about that stuff. It is such a pain to wake up every day and wishing that you could just die. It's something I hope you never have to go through. It's a nightmare. My life is a nightmare, and I can't wake up. After everything he has done to me...” Elsa finds herself unable to finish before getting teary-eyed. Falling silent, she rests her hands in her lap and gazes out her bedroom window.

“Have you told Dr. Cohen?”

“Yes. She's prescribing me some medication to help with my depression. Micah, I'm thirteen. I shouldn't be like this.”

“Can you please tell me what has happened to you? I've been scared for you for years now. You trust me with everything. You know I won't tell anyone unless you want me to.”

Elsa bit her bottom lip and contemplated the whole thing. She desperately wanted to tell him, but she just didn't know if she could yet. But, in a bold effort to set things right, she got up from her bed and strode across her room to the door, shutting it as quietly as she could. Then she turned her attention back towards Micah and started playing with her braid.

“Um, okay,” she said, nervous as hell. “Uh. What I'm about to tell you you have to swear that you will never tell anyone. Ever. Not my mother, Anna, your mother, our friends...nobody. Can you promise me that?”

“You know I do.”

“You have to say it, Micah. Promise me,” she begged.

“I promise. Not a word to anyone. Ever.”

“Okay. Um,” she mutters, her breathing increasing in speed and her adrenaline pumping. “Do you remember when I told you my dad hurts me, and that it was getting worse?”

“Yeah, you've told me a few times.”

“Yeah, well, it's worse than just that. He does hit me, but he makes sure not to leave any marks. He likes to use his belt. But, um, that's not everything...”

“Holy shit. If that isn't everything, what else is there?”

“Oh god, this is embarrassing. I don't know if I can do this.”

“Elsa, please, talk to me.”

Taking a deep breath, Elsa did her best to calm her nerves before continuing. It didn't help much. “Okay. Well, um, he also likes to, um, touch me. Down there. And he takes pictures, usually of me without any clothes on.” Her face was extremely red, and she wasn't looking at him anymore.

Micah's eyes were bulging in their sockets, and his jaw hung wide open. He didn't say or do anything for a long time. All he did was stare in shock. It was beginning to make Elsa very uncomfortable.

“Oh my god... Elsa, what the hell? Why in the world have you not told anyone? This is sick.”

“Because, if I do, he said he'll hurt me even more. And that he'll hurt Anna too. He hasn't touched her, only me. I have to make sure it stays that way.”

“That is not a good enough of an answer, Elsa. Not even close. What about this do you think you deserve?”

“What?” she asked him, completely perplexed.

“You told me a lot that you deserved everything he did to you. How can you possibly deserve _that_?”

“I don't know, I just do. I've obviously done something very bad to deserve what I get. He even tells me that on a regular basis.”

“That's no excuse! Elsa, you better tell someone.”

“I can't!”

“You have to. This isn't okay. If you want, I will help you tell someone.”

“Micah, no one would believe me. I have zero evidence to go with. It's just my word versus his. He's an adult. They'll listen to him over me.”

They both fell silent after that. Neither knew what to say or do. Elsa's deepest, darkest secret was out in the open now. The only person on earth who knew was the one person she trusted more than anyone else, even her own flesh and blood. The worst part was there was nothing she could do to change her situation. As far as she was concerned, she was stuck in a hell that had no escape.

00000

Halloween came quicker than anyone was expecting. It was nearly 6 pm, and Elsa was dressed as nicely as she could be to go to Rose's house. Being thirteen, she felt she was too old to dress up anymore. She still wanted to, and still loved the idea, but didn't think it would be all that appropriate at her age. The candy was always nice, though.

It was Kristoff's mother that picked her up, with Micah already in tow. The ride to Rose's place wasn't that long, and when they arrived there was already several cars parked outside. The exterior of the house had fake spiderwebs strewn all over, and half a dozen jack-o-lanterns adorned the front steps. In the yard itself were a few gravestones that had been erected, complete with zombie arms jutting out of the ground. Her parents were apparently quite into the holiday.

Rose was already outside waiting for them, dressed up as some character from an anime she liked. Elsa couldn't remember which one. She waved and led them inside through the living room, where a couple other kids were already sitting watching some Halloween special on TV. The group didn't bother to pay attention to what the others were watching, and instead headed towards Rose's room.

The bedroom itself was rather spacious, bigger than Elsa's, and had a nice view of the woods beyond her backyard. Her walls were mostly covered in anime posters, although she had a couple video game ones as well. She didn't have any pets, but she had a big flat-screen TV on a table in the corner, and a lava lamp with purple goo on the inside. Even her bed was big.

“So, Kyle should be here soon,” Rose began with a grin. “I am totally going to set you up.”

Elsa rolled her eyes at her friend, and ignored the stare she got from Micah. Surprisingly, Kristoff didn't seem to care. “Can we not talk about that? I'm not even sure I want to do anything about it.”

“Oh come on! You need a boyfriend!”

“Why? Besides you don't have one.”

“That's irrelevant.”

“Not really. You're trying to play matchmaker without having any dating experience yourself.”

“I'll have you know I had a boyfriend in fifth grade.”

“That doesn't count.”

“It so does.”

“Not really, Rose,” Kristoff interrupted.

“Why are we talking about dating? Elsa clearly isn't interested,” Micah added. He was feeling rather uncomfortable with the discussion.

“I didn't say I'm not interested. I said I don't know if I am,” the snowy blonde retorted.

“Look, it's whatever. I'm going to try and see where this goes. You should at least give it a chance. If it doesn't work out, then no harm done.” Rose sounded like she was pleading with Elsa.

Elsa let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes again. “...Fine. I'll at least give it a shot if it'll shut you up. But no promises. If he turns out to be a creep then I'm not going to do it.”

“What?! You're actually going to go through with this?” Micah asked incredulously.

“I don't know. I guess. I mean, Rose is technically right. I have nothing to lose.”

This made Rose very happy, as she was jumping up and down while clapping enthusiastically. “This is going to be great! Elsa will have a boyfriend!”

“I didn't say we were going to start dating. I said I'd talk to him for a bit and see what happens. I'm still really not sure about this whole dating thing.”

“Please, I know full well that as soon as you get a chance, you'll be his girlfriend.”

The group decided it was time to change the subject, primarily so Elsa didn't feel any more embarrassed than she already was, and because Micah was secretly getting quite jealous. They talked about what they were doing at school mostly, while Rose was keeping an eye and an ear out for Kyle and his parents to arrive. The rest of her parents' friends were already there, so it was only a matter of time before he showed up.

At about 7:15 pm there was a knock at the door, and Rose bolted out of the room to answer it. A couple minutes later, she returned with Kyle in tow, who simply waved at everyone as he entered the room. Rose quickly introduced him to everyone, who already knew him from school unofficially. It didn't take long for him to join in on the conversation. Somehow, he didn't notice the death stare that Micah was shooting at him the entire time.

About a half an hour later, Rose decided it was time to give Elsa and Kyle a little alone time, so she called Micah and Kristoff out to the living room to help her hand out candy to some trick or treaters. The two of them sat in an awkward silence for several minutes.

“So...” Kyle said after a bit of waiting for Elsa to start talking.

“So...” she mimicked. She was looking down at her hands that were resting her lap, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

“Do you like video games?” he finally asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I have a PlayStation, so yeah. I guess,” Elsa replied nervously.

“Cool. I have an Xbox. What's your favorite game?”

“I don't know. I've been playing a lot of Borderlands with Micah. So probably that.”

“Oh cool. Are you guys, like, together or something?”

“What? No! He's my best friend. That's all. I don't have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, okay. Good.”

“Why is that good?” Elsa asked with raised eyebrow.

“Oh. Um, that's not what I meant to say. I meant that it's good that he's your best friend. He seems like a pretty cool guy.”

“He is. But I've known him since kindergarten. It'd be weird if we were together.” She wasn't sure if she was lying or not.

“Yeah, probably. So, do you want to hang out sometime?”

“Oh. I don't know. I mean, I'm usually kind of a loner. I don't do much really. I'm actually kind of boring.”

“I don't think so.”

“You don't?”

Kyle started scratching the back of his neck, and looked like he was fumbling with his thoughts on what to say next. They both sat in more awkward silence for a bit, just kind of looking around the room instead of at each other. Out of habit, Elsa started to fidget with the end of her braid. She had no idea what to do next. Eventually, they looked at each other and smiled, mostly out of nervousness.

“So, to answer your question. No, I don't think you're boring. You're like the smartest kid in our class. You always know the answers, and Mr. Ableson seems to rely on you to help everyone else. I don't know, you just seem kind of cool, and you're cute.”

Elsa's heart skipped a beat, then seemed to launch itself vertically up into her throat. “Wait, what? You think I'm cute?”

“Well, I mean, yeah. I've been kind of thinking of asking you out, but you didn't seem like the type.”

“What does that mean?”

“Like you aren't interested in that sort of thing.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want to try?”

“Oh, um...sure. I guess.” She had no idea what else to say. I can't believe I'm doing this.

“Cool. You should come over to my house this weekend. We can do something together.”

“Okay.”

The rest of the night was rather awkward, but not as much as the conversation that had taken place in Rose's bedroom. They decided to join the others out in the living room and have some of the snacks that were provided by her parents. There were a bunch of trick or treaters that stopped by, and Elsa sort of took over handing out candy. She didn't mind, since she usually did it at home too. Around 9 pm Kristoff's mother picked the kids up again and took them home.

When Elsa stepped inside, she was immediately bombarded with questions by Anna. “So, how'd it go? Did you meet with Kyle? Did you two kiss? Are you guys dating now? What's he like? Is he cute? Do you actually like him?”

“Whoa, Anna, slow down. It went fine. Yes, Kyle was there. No, I didn't kiss him, and probably never will. Yeah, I guess we're dating. He's alright. He likes video games too. I think he's sort of attractive. Yes, I sort of like him, at least as a person.” Elsa had to stop and catch her breath. How her sister was able to ramble off all those questions at once without taking a breath in between was beyond her.

“Elsa has a boyfriend! Yay!” Anna exclaimed as she hopped around excitedly, and Elsa had to roll her eyes at her.

“If you're done celebrating, I'd like to head to bed now,” she said as she dismissed her sister and headed off towards her room.

00000

The school year rolled on as always, and the group dynamics had changed once more. Kyle had begun hanging out with the others, much to Micah's displeasure. It didn't seem to bother anyone else. Even Elsa seemed to enjoy his company probably more than she let on. They met everyday at lunch, and Kyle had started walking Elsa to all her classes. They weren't quite at the level of holding hands, mostly because Elsa was still too reserved for such intimacy. But they spent a lot of time together. So much so that she wasn't hanging out with Micah nearly as often as she once did. After school, she would either be at Kyle's house or he would be at hers. Her friends would sometimes be invited over, but not like before.

It was late May, nearly the end of the school year, when things began to pick up the pace. Kyle had invited Elsa over to play some video games, something they did quite often. When she arrived, he threw open the door and welcomed her in as she waved goodbye to her mother. They immediately headed to his room so they could settle in for some good gaming. He was playing Bioshock Infinite, so Elsa settled in to watch him play for a bit.

After a little bit of pointless chitchatting between the two, Kyle paused the game and looked at Elsa, who was waiting for him to continue playing. “So, I have a question for you.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Would you mind if I kissed you?”

Elsa's eyes widened instantly at the question. She was not ready for it. “Oh, um, I don't know. I've never thought about it.”

“We'll we've been together for a long time now, so I thought maybe you'd like to. We totally don't have to though. I just, like, kind of want to.”

“Oh. Well, I don't know. I mean, I've never kissed anyone before. So I'm afraid I'd mess up.”

“We can try and see what happens.”

“Um...Okay, I guess.”

That was it. For no reason whatsoever, she decided to commit herself to it. She had no idea what she was doing, and she was nervous as hell. Kyle suddenly leaned in towards her, and she didn't know what to do. So she leaned in towards him, mimicking what he was doing, closed her eyes and kissed him.

It was... Something. There was nothing there. She thought that it would feel different, feel good, but it didn't feel like anything at all. No sparks were flying, no racing of the heart, no desire for more. There was absolutely no emotion behind it. She felt nothing, and had no idea why. She was sure she was supposed to feel good about it, to enjoy it, but really didn't. A part of her kind of wished she hadn't done it at all.

Kyle seemed to think differently. He was smiling at her. For some reason, he looked like he really enjoyed it. All it was was a simple peck on the lips. Nothing more. But it seemed to mean something to him. Elsa just couldn't figure out why.

After a few minutes of mulling things over, Elsa began feeling very uncomfortable. “I'm sorry, Kyle, but I just remembered I have some homework to take care of. So I have to go. I'll Skype with you later, okay?”

“Oh, okay. Want to hang out tomorrow?”

“I don't know. Maybe. We'll see.”

Grabbing her purse, Elsa hurried out of his house as quickly as she could. Once she was outside, she walked a little ways down the street before pulling out her phone and calling her mother to pick her up. There was too much on her mind, primarily why she didn't like it at all. Thinking it over some more, she realized that she actually disliked it. It made her feel very uncomfortable, and she didn't want to do it ever again.

Her mother picked her up about ten minutes later, and asked her why she wanted to go home so soon. Elsa just made up an excuse, telling her that she had a bunch of homework she forgot she had to do. She doubted her mother believed it, but Melissa didn't say anything. As soon as they were home, Elsa bolted for her room and closed the door.

Sitting down at her desk, she flipped open her laptop and opened up Skype. Luckily, all her friends were online. So she messaged Rose, telling her what had happened.

_Frosty Soul: Rose, you're not going to believe what happened._

As soon as she hit send, she began to count down the seconds. It was a full minute before she got a response, and it was the longest minute of her life.

_Mikasa Ackerman: Oh hey. What's up?_

_Frosty Soul: I kissed Kyle._

_Mikasa Ackerman: You did not._

_Frosty Soul: Yes, I did._

_Mikasa Ackerman: No way! So, how was it?_

_Frosty Soul: I don't know. It wasn't anything like I had expected._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Is that a good thing?_

Elsa had to think about what she was going to say. Her friend was clearly excited for her, but she wasn't sure how to tell her how it really felt. Then she decided to just be blunt about it.

_Frosty Soul: Honestly, I didn't care for it._

_Mikasa Ackerman: What? Why?_

_Frosty Soul: Because it didn't feel good. It didn't feel like anything. I just simply didn't enjoy it, and I really don't feel like doing it ever again._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, that sucks. So, how are things between you and Kyle now?_

_Frosty Soul: He doesn't know yet. I left shortly after it happened. I kind of panicked. The weird thing is, it sort of made me realize that I have zero feelings for him. I mean, I like him as a friend, but I don't feel anything for him as a boyfriend. I think I'm going to have to break up with him. I just don't know how. I've never done this before._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Well, you should just be straightforward with him. Tell him you don't hate him, you just don't feel anything and the relationship isn't going to work out. That's what my sister just said anyway. Yes, she's reading this over my shoulder._

As if on cue, Kyle suddenly came online and sent her a message. She really didn't want to handle this right now.

_BloodFang: Hey. How's the homework going?_

Panicking, Elsa sat and stared at the screen for several seconds before responding. All she could come up with was the lamest answer ever.

_Frosty Soul: Fine._

_BloodFang: Cool._

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, I guess._

The conversation was going nowhere, and so she had to refocus on her messages with Rose.

_Frosty Soul: Okay, he's online. Should I just tell him now?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Sure. I don't see why not. Just don't be a bitch._

_Frosty Soul: When have I ever been a bitch?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Never, that's why I'm telling you not to be one. Don't start now._

Once again, Elsa had to switch back to her conversation with Kyle. It was already becoming tiresome. She didn't want to have to do this, but she didn't feel it was right to keep doing something she didn't like.

_Frosty Soul: So, we need to talk._

_BloodFang: Okay._

_Frosty Soul: I don't know how to say this without sounding mean, but I don't think I can keep doing this. I didn't like the kiss, and it made me realize that I don't actually have any feelings for you. I still like you as a person and a friend, but I can't be your girlfriend anymore. It wouldn't be fair to either of us._

_BloodFang: Oh. Well that sucks._

_Frosty Soul: What, that's it? You're not going to get mad at me and call me names?_

_BloodFang: No. Why would I do that? You don't want to be my girlfriend, so that's that. I knew you weren't comfortable with the whole thing anyway. I'm honestly surprised you waited this long._

_Frosty Soul: Wait, you knew?_

_BloodFang: Yeah. It was pretty obvious._

_Frosty Soul: Oh. Well, I'm happy that you aren't upset with me. We can still hang out and stuff, I just think we'd be better as just friends._

_BloodFang: Yeah, that sounds cool. I'll see you Monday at school then._

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, okay._

Elsa let out a huge sigh of relief. It couldn't have gone any better. Now she was free to hang out with all her friends again. Why she had neglected them for so long she didn't know. There was a ball of guilt that had wedged itself in the pit of her stomach, and she needed to rid herself of it as fast as possible. The first thing she had to do was tell Micah she was sorry for how she had treated him.

_Frosty Soul: Hey Micah. Can we talk?_

She waited and waited, praying he would answer. She knew that he was likely angry at her for how she'd been. It was as if he wasn't important to her anymore, and she had to set things right. After a couple of minutes passed, she was on the verge of giving up, when he finally messaged her back.

_Raging Rajang: Oh hey. I guess we can talk._

_Frosty Soul: Oh thank God. I thought you were ignoring me._

_Raging Rajang: No, I don't do that to my friends._

_Frosty Soul: Okay, I deserve that._

_Raging Rajang: Gee, you think?_

_Frosty Soul: Yes. I deserve that and more. I just want you to know that I am so damn sorry, Micah. I've been a really bad friend lately and I shouldn't have been. We've been close since kindergarten, and I basically ignored you for the last several months. We almost never hang out anymore, and I want to fix that._

_Raging Rajang: Elsa, it's been like this since you got together with Kyle. All three of us have felt like you don't care anymore. Me especially. We're all a little pissed off at you._

_Frosty Soul: I know you are. You should be. But I want you to know that I broke up with Kyle. I realized that I didn't feel anything for him. So we're done. I want to get back to being close with you again, like we used to be. I've missed you and I didn't even know it. Please, can you forgive me?_

_Raging Rajang: … Yeah, I guess I can. I mean, it's gonna take a lot for everything to be back to normal between us. But I accept your implied apology._

_Frost Soul: Thank you so much. So, as a way for me to make things up to you, would you like to stay the night? We can hang out and do whatever you want. Just the two of us. My mom and dad are going out for the night, and Anna is at a friend's house. I can go ask right now if you want to._

_Raging Rajang: Sure, that'll be a start. Want me to bring over my laptop? We can play some Starcraft._

_Frosty Soul: Sure. That would be awesome._

With the biggest smile she could possibly have on her face, Elsa got up and ran downstairs to ask her mother if Micah could stay the night. When she said yes, Elsa jumped up and down full of joy, ran back to her room, and started getting ready for the best night she had had in a long time.


	7. Secrets and Promises

January 8th, 2013. It was the beginning of the new year, and things seemed to be going well. Elsa had managed to patch things up with her friends, especially Micah, and they were right back to hanging out virtually every day they could. A lot of the time they were at Elsa's, typically playing some video game together or listening to some new rock band she had discovered. When it was just the girls, Rose would bring over a DVD of her favorite anime, and they would binge on the whole series. Other times, when it was just Micah or Kristoff, they'd just talk about nothing in particular.

Eighth grade was an interesting year. They were finally at the top of the middle school food chain, and somehow managed to share a lot of the same classes together. Elsa was still managing straight A's in all her classes, something she hadn't given up on since she was little. Now that she was fourteen, it meant a lot more to her to get good grades and stay at the top of her game. She was incredibly smart, too smart at times, and often helped tutor her friends when they started falling behind in their work. Micah especially had a difficult time with math and science. For whatever reason, it just wouldn't click with him. So, she focused extra hard on making sure he understood the material when they worked on homework together.

Things between her and Kyle went back to normal, thankfully, and they were just friends again. She didn't see him nearly as much, except for at school. She didn't mind though. They were never all that close. At least not like she was with the others. Yes, they had dated, and saw each other all the time, but she had only done that because she thought that was what you were supposed to do when you were with someone. Now, her mother would occasionally question her about him, and she'd just tell her that they have both been too busy. That always seemed like good enough of an answer for her.

It was Tuesday after school, and Elsa found herself sitting in Dr. Cohen's office again. Her visits were down to once a month, mainly because she didn't have much to talk about most of the time. They didn't always run the full hour she had, but they were at least somewhat calming when she left. It was therapeutic, which was the goal. She always felt a little bit better about herself after a session. Even though they didn't always accomplish much, it still helped.

Anymore, they mostly talked about her daily life. Marshall wasn't nearly as much of an issue as he used to be. He still harassed her on occasion, but now that she had friends that were willing to stand up for her, she didn't worry. Kristoff and Rose alone were enough to make him think twice, and even Micah had grown a bit more to where he was somewhat intimidating as well. In all, Elsa felt blessed to have the friends that she did. They were the best things in her life, with her sister being a close second.

Sitting in the office, Elsa was staring out of the one window that was there. It was raining outside, and it was incredibly chilly. It made the day kind of gloomy and gray, but she had come to like the rain, even in January. It was a nice sound to listen to at night when she was trying to sleep. It calmed her, helped her relax. It also helped take away the horrible memories that haunted her every chance they got.

“Elsa, are you feeling alright?” Dr. Cohen asked her, snapping her out of her daze.

“What? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I just like the rain.”

Dr. Cohen gave her a slight smile, but it was genuine and comforting. “I kind of do as well. It's very soothing to listen to.”

“Yeah, that's why I like it. It helps me sleep at night too.”

“How is that going for you?”

“What, the sleeping? It's getting easier. I can actually get a few hours a night instead of just a couple. But the nightmares still come.”

“And how is your medication treating you?”

“Fine, I guess. I don't feel like hurting myself anymore.”

“Well that's good. How are things between you and your parents?”

“Pretty much the same. My mother acts oblivious to everything going on, and my father still treats me badly.”

“How does he treat you badly now? The same as before?”

“Yeah. He still yells at me all the time, still makes me spend all my time in my room – which doesn't really bother me anymore – and just tells me everything is my fault. I don't even know what that means anymore.”

“Is he still hurting you?”

“I really don't want to talk about that again.”

“Elsa, I think it would be good for you to get that off your chest. To open up to me enough so I can help you through this.”

“I've told you everything I can. He still hurts me, still tells me horrible things, and still calls me names. But he only does it when no one is around. He's smart about it. At least I've managed to stop him from doing it to Anna too.”

“Can you tell me how he is hurting you?”

Letting out a tired sigh, Elsa propped up her arm and rested her head in her hand. “Like I've told you before, I can't talk about it. If I do, he'll do worse than he already has.”

“You know that's not true.”

“But it is. There is nothing anyone can do right now. Even when I turn eighteen, I can't move out because I won't leave Anna alone with him. So I have to stay and protect her.”

“What makes you think he'll do anything to her if he hasn't already?”

“Because my father is sick in the head, and if I'm not there to deal with it, Anna will have to.”

“What do you mean he's sick in the head?”

“Just the things he does to me. It's sick and wrong. Why do you think I'm here talking to you now? Because of how screwed up I am after nine years of this, maybe longer. I don't know about when I was little.”

“Elsa, is he abusing you?”

“... I'm done with this topic. Can we please just move on?”

“I really want to get to the bottom of this.”

“I'm sorry, but you can't. Not until Anna is old enough to move out with me.”

“That is unfortunate. Elsa, I'm only trying to help.”

“I know, but right now that is a subject that I don't want to get into any further.”

“Okay. How are things with you and your friends?”

“They're good. Micah and I are back to being best friends. We're closer than ever. Kristoff and Rose are great friends too. Honestly, I feel blessed.”

“What about Kyle?”

“We still talk and see each other at school. I don't know, I just haven't felt right since we kissed. Like I said, it didn't feel good to do it, and ever since then things have just been... Weird.”

“How so?”

“Like there is this tension between us, that he resents me for breaking up with him. He said everything was good, but it doesn't feel like it.”

“Have you thought that you might be projecting your own feelings onto him? That sometimes happens in these situations.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Elsa said with an exaggerated shrug for emphasis. “I mean, that is how I feel about it. Maybe he doesn't.”

“I think that might be what is happening here. What about other prospective romances? There is still Micah.”

“That will never happen. We're just friends. Besides, I doubt he sees me that way anyway. We've been buddies since kindergarten. He's like a brother to me, even though I have stronger feelings for him. But it doesn't matter.”

“Have you considered telling him how you feel? He may be more receptive than you think.”

“God no!” Elsa exclaimed, blushing brightly. “I can't do that! What if it pushes him away? What if he says he doesn't like me like that? What happens if we're no longer friends because of it? I can't go through that. I already pushed him away once when I started dating Kyle. Now that he's forgiven me, I can't ruin that. Besides, I almost slipped up back in sixth grade. Remember when we went to camp? I almost told him I love him. I can't risk it, not now.”

“I think you should try. You never know what will come of it.”

Elsa adamantly shook her head. “No. I am not taking a chance at ruining the best thing to ever happen to me. He is still the most important person in my life. If I lose him, I might as well be dead.”

“Well, think about it. Okay? But unfortunately our time is up. I want to see you again soon. Perhaps sooner than normal. How does a couple weeks sound to you?”

“That sounds fine.”

With that, Dr. Cohen walked Elsa back out to the lobby to where her mother waited for her. After she said her goodbyes, she and her mother got in the car and headed for home.

Elsa felt much better than she usually did after seeing Dr. Cohen. Normally she'd feel a little uplifted, but not enough to make her day go better. Today was different. Today she actually admitted that she loved Micah. Unfortunately, she could never tell him. There was too much at stake for her to do that. Too many years of friendship that would be flushed away if she came clean to him.

The car ride home was quiet. It always was. Her mother stopped asking questions a long time ago, because Elsa refused to talk to her about her sessions. She refused to talk to her about much. After so many years of neglect and ignorance on her mother's behalf, Elsa didn't feel that she deserved to know what was happening in her daughter's life. She believed that she was meant to suffer alone. Although she wasn't truly alone. Micah knew what was happening to her, and just like he promised, he hadn't told a soul. Nobody else knew. Dr. Cohen was coming close, and Elsa was desperately trying to tell her without telling her, but she was still terrified of what the repercussions would be once it was all laid out in the open.

When they got home, Elsa headed straight for her room and threw her backpack on her bed before plopping down in front of her laptop. She had finished all her homework at school, so her afternoon was pretty much free. Her friends weren't always so thoughtful in that regard; they usually didn't do anything until they got home. So she logged into Skype and Steam, then started browsing her favorite websites while she waited for everyone to get online. They had finally set up a group chat so they could all talk together, so it made things easier to communicate and organize get-togethers or a game of Team Fortress 2.

She sat there for half an hour waiting for someone to finally log on, but no one had. It was close to 4:30 pm, so her friends should have been done with their homework by now. Checking her phone for any missed messages, she saw she had one from Micah. It was sent nearly an hour ago, while she was still with Dr. Cohen. It was simple and quick, but kind of alarming.

_Call me please._

It was a matter of seconds before she had his number dialed in and was calling him. She didn't want to panic, since it likely wasn't that big of a deal. He was probably just bored and wanted to talk. Or had a question about his homework. He did that a lot too.

As soon as it rang, the line was picked up. _“Hey, took you long enough.”_

Elsa rolled her eyes, then remembered he couldn't see her. “I was with Dr. Cohen, remember?”

_“Yeah, but you said you got out at 3:30. It's 4:30 now. Do you not check your phone?”_

“I don't live on it, Micah. Besides, we have Skype. I don't see why it's such a big deal-”

_“My dad just got released from prison again, and wants to see me. My mom has a restraining order on him, but he's waiting outside on the street. She's not home, and I don't know what to do.”_

“Oh my God. Okay, does he know you're home alone?”

_“Yeah. He was shouting at my window and I looked outside to see who it was. I don't know what he's going to do.”_

“Call the police. Now. Get off the phone with me and call them. You don't know what he's going to try and do. Your mom has a restraining order on him for a reason.”

_“Elsa, I don't know if I should be scared or not. I mean, he hasn't done anything yet.”_

“Do you want to wait until he does? Micah, what if he kidnaps you? After all the stupid things he's done, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried. So please, call the police,” Elsa begged desperately. “When you're done, call me back. Please.”

_“Yeah, okay. I'll do that. Um, what should I tell them?”_

“Exactly what you just told me. That your father is outside your house and he isn't supposed to be, and that there is a restraining order on him. They'll ask for your name and his, and they'll be able to look up that he does actually have one. They keep all of that stuff on record. Now hurry up, then call me back.”

_“Okay. I call back in a bit.”_

With that, the line went dead. Elsa set her phone down on her desk and began to pace back and forth in her room. When her sister came and knocked on her door, it startled her out of her thoughts.

“Anna, Jesus Christ you scared me.”

“Sorry. I heard you on the phone with Micah. Is everything okay?”

“I don't know yet. His dad got out of jail and is at his house. He's not supposed to be there.”

Anna hummed to herself as she walked into the room and sat down on the bed. “So that's why you told him to call the cops.”

“Yeah. Wait, were you eavesdropping?”

“No, dork. Your door is wide open. I was in my room doing homework. I could hear you pretty clearly.”

Sighing, Elsa sat down beside her sister on the bed and fell backwards. “I'm worried about him. His dad has been gone for quite a while, and he wasn't very stable before. I can't imagine that he's gotten much better.”

“Well, maybe there's nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, I hope not.”

“So when are your friends coming over next?”

“I don't know, maybe this weekend. Why?”

“No reason. I just like them, that's all,” Anna said with a dismissive shrug.

Just then, Elsa's phone began to ring. Springing up from the bed like a bolt of lightning, Elsa dashed to her desk and picked it up. “Micah? What happened?”

_“They said they're sending someone over right now. I told them what happened and that I was a little scared, so they said an officer would be here in just a couple minutes.”_

“Oh good. Just stay on the phone with me, okay? I want to make sure nothing happens to you.”

_“Yeah, okay. Um, I don't mean to change the subject, but how are you doing?”_

“Well, besides being scared out of my mind for you, I'm great. Why?”

_“I mean, like, how are things with your dad. Is he still, you know... Doing that stuff?”_

Elsa fell quiet for several seconds. She didn't know how to answer that with Anna in the room. “Um, yeah. Not for a few days though. Saturday night was the last time,” she said as quietly as she could and still be heard.

_“Jesus, Elsa. Why don't you tell someone? He isn't supposed to be doing that stuff, and it's been happening more often lately.”_

“I know,” was all she said.

_“Then what's holding you back? If you tell someone, he'll go to jail. What he's doing is illegal. You know all of this. You told me you did research on it.”_

“I just can't. Not right now. Can we please change the subject? Right now is not the best time.”

_“Oh, Anna is there isn't she?”_

“Yes.”

_“I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you, and kind of scared for you. One last question, and that's it. Okay?”_

“Fine.”

_“Has he done anything more than just touch you?”_

“Thankfully, no. It's never gotten to that point.”

_“Okay, good. If it ever does, you're telling someone. You hear me? You cannot let that ever happen.”_

“Okay. I swear, if it ever does, then I will. But I can barely handle it anymore. I might do that even sooner. I've come so close to telling Dr. Cohen. She already knows most of it.”

_“Good. When do you see her next?”_

“Two weeks from today.”

_“You're telling her then. I've had enough of watching this happen to you and not being able to do anything about it. So you're telling her everything. Promise me.”_

“... Okay.” She suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

_“No, you have to say it, Elsa. Promise me!”_

“I swear to God that I will tell her. Okay? But I'm scared.”

_“I know you are. But if you don't do this, it'll just keep happening. And what if he moves on to Anna because nothing was done about it?”_

“Believe me, I've thought about that too, and I'm terrified. I have to make sure it never comes to that.”

_“Yeah. Okay, someone is knocking at my door. I'm gonna go make sure it's the police. I'll text you when I'm done.”_

“Okay. Bye.”

Then there was silence. Setting her phone back down on the desk next to her laptop, Elsa turned around and had completely forgotten Anna was even there. The look on Anna's face was very confusing.

“What the heck was that all about?”

“Um, nothing. Don't worry about it, okay? It's all stuff that you don't need to be concerned with.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm positive. Don't you have homework to finish?”

“No, I finished it before I came in. But I do hope everything is okay with Micah.”

“Yeah, me too,” Elsa said as she took a seat next to Anna again. “He said the police were there, so hopefully everything will be taken care of.”

A few minutes later, she got a text on her phone. She knew instantly that it was from Micah.

_Hey, it was the police. They said my dad ran as soon as they showed up. They're looking for him now. I'll be online in a short bit. I'm kind of waiting to see what happens. I also called my mom and she's on her way home. Talk to you in a bit._

With a sigh of relief, Elsa tossed her phone onto her nightstand, then flopped back down on her bed. She was worried about her friend for sure, but she was suddenly far more worried about her next visit with Dr. Cohen. The whole idea of seeing her in two weeks was scary. She had promised Micah that she would tell the therapist everything, and she intended to keep her promise. That's how dedicated to him she was. That's how she was with all three of her friends. They were that important to her. Except for the fact that she couldn't confide in Kristoff and Rose the same way she could with Micah. He was special.

00000

By the time Friday had finally come, Elsa was ready for the weekend. She had managed to talk her mother into having her friends all sleep over, and Anna was off staying the night at her friend's house. That's normally how it worked. She didn't ask her father for anything. In fact, she hadn't spoken to him in ages. When he asks her how she's doing, she simply shrugs and looks at him with cold, dead eyes. It's gotten to the point where he doesn't ask her anymore. She avoids him at all costs, and he doesn't put forth any effort to be involved in her life. Elsa preferred it this way. The less contact she had with him the better.

Her mother had taken her to the store so she and her friends could have snacks for the sleep over. They had three different kinds of soda, various kinds of candy – especially chocolate – and they had pizza ready to arrive around 7 pm. It was going to be a great night. They'd hang out in Elsa's room and watch movies or play games. She had it all planned out. They were all going to bring their laptops too so they could play some Starcraft 2.

By 6:30 pm everyone had arrived, the last of her friends showing up with gear in tow. They all headed to Elsa's room and made themselves comfortable either on her bed or the floor. They started off watching a movie, The Hunger Games, and then decided to play some PlayStation. The night was full of laughter and trash talking as they moved on to Starcraft 2 and decided to play head to head. It was the most fun they had had together in a long time.

At some point, Rose and Elsa ended up alone for a few minutes while the boys were busy getting more snacks. Turning to her friend, Rose gave Elsa a big, wicked grin. “So, I know about you and your thing for Micah.”

Elsa was taking a drink of Pepsi when she choked, spewing it everywhere, with her eyes wide and bulging. “What!? How!?”

“Oh please, it's incredibly obvious.”

“It is?” Elsa asked nervously as she wiped her mouth dry with the back of her hand.

“Yes. Totally. But it's okay. Your secret is safe with me. But I could easily hook you two up. It wouldn't be hard.”

“Absolutely not. After Kyle, I am not trusting you with anything involving my love life ever again. Besides, he can never know. Ever. And you better swear that you will never tell a soul.”

“Oh, I have no intention of telling anyone. I know you guys are super close, but I think you guys would make a great couple. But it's none of my business if you don't want it to be.”

“I don't want it to be. He can not ever find out. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you. I still think you're making a big mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“Not telling Micah.”

“Not telling me what?” said boy asked as he walked back in with Kristoff on his tail.

Elsa's face instantly burned a deep red. “Oh, um, nothing. Absolutely nothing. I swear. Okay?”

“Elsa, I don't believe you. What is it?”

“I said nothing. Now drop it.”

“Does this have anything to do with that thing from camp?” he asked with a smirk.

“When are you going to let that go?”

“Probably never.”

Elsa groaned loudly and rolled her eyes, then returned her attention to her laptop. After snacks were distributed to everyone, they returned to their game and resumed with the trash talking. They made sure to keep it PG just in case her parents were listening, but they got as close to toeing the line as they could. Eventually the game ended, with Kristoff as the winner. He had learned the game pretty quickly, and was a dominating force on the battlefield.

Their gaming went late into the night, and they didn't start to crash until nearly 1 am. The boys had the spare bedroom all to themselves, and didn't fall asleep for nearly another two hours as they were up talking. They had brought their sleeping bags over and decided to sleep on the floor since there was so much room.

“Hey, Micah,” Kristoff said as he rolled over onto his side.

“Yeah?”

“When are you gonna tell her?”

Micah was quiet for a short bit. He didn't know what to say. The whole topic made him feel weird.

“I don't know. Probably never.”

“That seems so stupid.”

“What? Why?”

“Because man, you love the girl. Tell her,” Kristoff urged him.

“Tell her what exactly?”

“How you feel. You told me what she does to you. Tell her that.”

“Dude, I can't. Okay? There is no way. She won't feel the same way anyway. She'll probably laugh at me.”

“Have you ever known Elsa to laugh at you?”

“Well, no...”

“Exactly. So man up and tell her.”

“It's not that easy, Kristoff.”

“Of course it is.”

“No, it's not. Not with Elsa.”

“Why's that?” Kristoff asked.

“Because, she's delicate,” Micah said. “She's gone through a lot, things I am not allowed to talk about, and I am afraid of scaring her. If I come out and tell her how I feel, it could push her away for good. So I can't. At least not right now. Maybe someday. But it won't be for a long time.”

“If you wait too long, someone else will swoop in and take her from you.”

“I doubt that. She doesn't want a relationship at all. She's already told me that much.”

“And you don't think she'd make an exception for you?”

“Hell no. We've been best friends forever. That's all she wants. I am not about to try and change that and lose everything.”

“I think you're making a big mistake.”

“How is it a mistake?”

“I just told you. You love Elsa. She is everything to you. Tell her how you feel. By not telling her, you are letting her slip through your fingers. That is the mistake.”

“But I can't tell her. Okay? Not while she's stuck in the situation she's in.”

“What's going on with her anyway?”

“I've sworn myself to secrecy. I can't tell you. Just know it is really bad.”

“Alright. Well, just remember what I said. You two should be together.”

“I know what you said.”

“Just promise me you'll tell her someday.”

“Maybe someday.”

00000

The next day, Elsa's friends were gone by noon. She spent a couple hours after they had left cleaning up after them and taking a shower. Anna still wasn't home from her friend's house, and probably wouldn't be for some time. So she kept herself busy with menial chores around the house.

The conversations from last night played on repeat in her head. She had actually admitted to Rose that she loved Micah. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. They had been friends for so long, she didn't even know when those feelings started to surface. But there they were, leaving her chest feeling tight and her heart beating rapidly. There was even a weird feeling in her stomach. It wasn't nausea. It was something different. A strange longing, a desire for Micah to be there right then. She realized that every time he left to go home it left a pang in her heart. Then the dread would soon follow. He was her safety net.

Once she was done cleaning, she was sitting at her desk when her mother knocked on the door and poked her head in. “I'm heading to the store. I'll be back in a bit. Anything you need?”

Elsa shook her head and barely looked away from her laptop. “No. I think I'm good. When is Anna supposed to come home?”

“I have to pick her up on the way back.”

“Okay. Can you close my door on your way out?”

“Sure sweetheart.”

As soon as her mother left, the horrible feeling she always got returned. He skin crawled and a shiver shot up her spine. It was always that way when she was left alone with her father. It didn't happen often, mostly because she tried to go everywhere with her mother, but when it did she tried to make herself invisible and silent. As long as he thought she was gone too, he wouldn't bother her. It worked sometimes. But not always.

She could hear her mother get in the car and start up the engine. Seconds later, she was gone. She was now officially alone with her father, who she prayed would just stay downstairs. As long as he stayed down there, she was sure things would be fine.

Her mother wasn't gone five minutes before Elsa heard the telltale sound of the floorboards creaking outside her door. Instantly she ran to the corner of her room, kept her back against the wall, and slid down to the floor with tears already beginning to drip down her pallid cheeks. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tight.

There was a knock at the door, but she refused to answer. She hoped he'd think she was gone with her mother. She prayed that's what he would think. But her bedroom door slowly creaked open, and he stuck his head in to find her cowering in the corner. He had that strange look on his face. A weird smile that creeped her out, and a glaze to his eyes that meant he was thinking something wicked.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” he said in sweet voice. “Can I come in?”

Shaking her head, the tears stained her face and just fell harder. “Please, no.”

Without acknowledging her reaction, he let himself in and slowly closed the door. “Don't be like that, sugar. Daddy just wants to spend some quality time with his little girl.”

“Please, just go away,” Elsa begged as she shut her eyes tight.

“Now why would you say that to me? I thought we had something special.” He was close to her now, and knelt down so he was closer to her level.

“No. Now please stop. I don't want to do this,” she said through her sobbing.

Dale hummed to himself for a second, then brought a hand up to rest on Elsa's cheek. She flinched. “Oh, sure you do. I know I do. So why don't you get over there and start getting ready for daddy?”

He didn't wait for her to respond, but instead yanked her up by the arm and threw her at her bed. She hit the side of it pretty hard, having the air knocked out of her lungs. It hurt, but she was already crying so it made little difference.

Elsa did as she was instructed, even though she tried hard to fight it every step of the way. He made her strip down to her underwear as he started taking pictures with his phone, telling her how much of a good girl she was. She did her best to tune it out. Then he made her pose for him, and she hated it. When he told her to take the rest of her clothes off, she cried even harder. From what she could tell, he enjoyed the torture.

She was finally stripped down to nothing, standing there trying her best to cover herself up, though he wouldn't let her. That's when she heard something coming from the front room by the kitchen.

00000

Melissa hadn't made it very far. As soon as she pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store she realized that her wallet wasn't in her purse. Then she remembered she had left it on the counter in the kitchen at home. Frustrated with herself, she turned the key and started the engine back up, then sped off. On the way, she kept berating herself because she hated this sort of thing. She prided herself on always being prepared, and here she was forgetting the most important thing.

When she got back, the house was quiet. As soon as she walked through the front door, she noticed she couldn't hear the TV on downstairs. But she figured that just meant Dale was either in the backyard drinking a beer or messing around with something in the garage. That's what he usually did. If he wasn't sitting in front of the TV watching some macho show about cars or sports, he was busying himself with some useless task around the house. He was really only good for bringing home a good paycheck. His time spent with his daughters had waned over the years, and now she noticed he didn't have much of a relationship with either one. It frustrated her to no end.

As she walked up the stairs towards the kitchen, she heard some noise coming from down the hall. It sounded like Elsa was crying, and it made her incredibly curious as to why. Elsa was usually very quiet, and she rarely had any reason to be upset. So she decided to take a detour from the kitchen and check on her daughter to make sure everything was alright.

Normally she would knock in order to be courteous and respectful, since that is what she had taught the girls from a very young age. But Elsa sounded miserable, so she just helped herself in. What she wasn't expecting was the scene that was taking place behind the closed door.


	8. Never Again

Time halted as if hitting a brick wall. Thoughts froze, and nobody moved a muscle. The only sound to be heard was the sobbing coming from Elsa, who was still standing there completely nude. She had been forced to bend over the bed to expose herself to her father, who had also exposed himself. The whole twisted scene was a system shock to Melissa, whose jaw hung as wide open as it could without being unhinged.

A couple seconds passed, then time resumed like a semi truck plowing through a congested highway. Emotions erupted, primarily rage, and then action took place. In a blur, Melissa ran towards Dale and began hitting him with her purse as hard as she could, screaming at him. He didn't have time to react, and with his pants down he stumbled and fell. Elsa backed away as far as she could, trying her best to cover herself. The tears were still coming, and her cheeks were wet.

“You sick son of a bitch! You stay the hell away from my daughter!” Melissa shrieked, still pummeling Dale with her purse and fists.

Dale didn't say anything, he just threw his hands up defensively and curled up into a ball. He knew he was in the wrong, and did nothing to excuse himself. He could barely move without being hit.

Seconds later, Melissa ran to Elsa, grabbed a blanket off her bed, wrapped her up, and ushered her out of the room as fast as she could. Before they were in the dining room Melissa had her phone out and she was dialing the police. As soon as the dispatcher answered, she was telling them what had happened as quickly as her mouth would move in a panic. Then she heard the front door open then slam closed.

Dale had bolted out of the house as quickly as he could, hopped in his truck, and sped off. There was smoke and the smell of burning rubber, and black tire marks down the driveway and street. Elsa had no idea where he was going. She was just happy that the sick bastard was gone. But the whole thing had worn her out, and her head hit the dinner table with a thud and she began bawling. Melissa was finally off the phone with the police, and sat and tried to comfort her daughter the best she could.

“Sweetheart, he's gone. He is never going to touch you again. I swear on my life that he won't,” she tried to say as soothingly as possible. She was rubbing Elsa's back and tried to hug her, but Elsa shrugged her off.

“I tried to tell you! For years mom! But you would listen!” Elsa yelled through her sobs. “Dr. Cohen tried to warn you! Told you that something was wrong! But you refused to believe it!”

“I am so sorry, baby. I really am. I honestly didn't think your father would do such a thing,” she tried to reason. Elsa wasn't buying it though.

“You never stopped him from yelling at me! For sending me to my room! For trying to punish me over nothing! Where the hell were you mom!?”

“I was right here. I didn't know. I just... I didn't know.”

“That's a lie! Even Micah knew!”

“You wouldn't talk to me! You shut me out of your life! Elsa, why?”

“Because you wouldn't listen! Because you didn't care!”

“I have always cared, Elsa. I love you and your sister more than anything. You are my children.”

“Whatever. You're lucky he didn't touch Anna too. I made sure it was just me. I've been protecting her for years.”

“How long has this been going on? How long has he been doing... this?”

“Since before kindergarten.”

Melissa didn't know what to say. Her daughter had been getting molested for at least nine years. Nine long, horrific years, and she had had no idea. She felt like a fool. How she could have never seen the signs was beyond her. But it all made sense. The depression, the isolation, the anxiety, the suicidal thoughts. All of it. It was no wonder her friends made her feel better. They were literally the only positive things in her life besides Anna. But it explained why she had such a hard time getting close to others. She even realized that the bullying was a serious thing too, and she had tuned it out. She never thought it was as bad as Elsa made it seem. Now she knew how wrong she was. Then she wondered what else was bothering her daughter that she was utterly blind to.

They didn't say anything for a little bit, and eventually there was a knock at the door. It was the police, and Melissa invited the officers in as soon as she opened the door. One of the officers stood with her on the landing by the door talking for a couple of minutes while his partner went to check on Elsa. He found her hunched over the table with her head resting on her arms, silently sobbing.

“Hey there kiddo, how are you doing?” the officer asked as nicely as possible, kneeling down in front of Elsa to get to eye level with her. 

Elsa didn't say anything. The only acknowledgment she gave him was halfhearted shrug.

“Not good huh? Well, my name is Officer Adkins. What's your name?” 

“Elsa,” she said meekly.

“That's a pretty name, Elsa. Has anyone ever told you that before?”

“My friend Micah.”

“Yeah? Are you pretty good friends with him?”

“He's my best friend.”

“That's good. You should listen to him. He has good taste.”

This actually managed to make Elsa smile a little, and she couldn't control it. A few moments later, her mother and the other officer finally came upstairs and entered the dining room. Her mother looked like she was in tears.

“This goofy lookin' guy with me is Officer Morris. He's actually like a big teddy bear. But now that your mom is here, we need to ask you a few important questions. Is that okay?”

Sitting up while still keeping herself covered, Elsa nodded her head and sniffled.

“Okay. If these questions get to be too embarrassing, just let us know, okay? Can you tell us what happened?”

Elsa hesitated for a second, looked at her mother for permission to talk, then proceeded to tell the officer what she could. “My mom went to the grocery store and left me home alone with my dad. After she left, he came up to my room and told me to get naked for him while he took pictures. He, um, pulled down his pants and started touching me... down there. He does it all the time and I hate it. I hate him. But I have to let him so he doesn't do it to Anna too.”

“Is Anna your sister?” Officer Morris asks.

“Yeah. She's three years younger than me. She doesn't know. Nobody does, except for Micah.”

“Okay. Can you tell me what happened afterwards?”

“My mom came home early and walked into my room and saw what was happening. She yelled and beat up my dad before calling you. Then he got in his truck and drove away.”

“Well don't worry about that. We have people looking for him right now. He won't be hurting you anymore. Okay?”

Officer Adkins stood up and turned to Melissa, switching back to professional mode. “She's probably going to have to go down to the hospital and have a rape kit done. A detective should be here shortly to do pretty much the same thing we just did. Then he'll escort you and your daughter down to the ER for that kit.”

“Do you really believe that's necessary?” Melissa asked nervously.

“It's standard procedure for sexual abuse and assault cases. We don't know if he has done anything more than touch her, and the detective will tell you the same thing. They should be here shortly to take over the case. We are going to stay here until he arrives just in case the father returns.”

“I doubt he will. He knows he's in serious shit right now.”

They ended up waiting about twenty minutes for the detective to arrive, who introduced himself as Detective Hall. Elsa thought he seemed nice, like the officers she spoke to earlier. Then they went through the whole process again, which wore out Elsa and her mother. Melissa had to call Anna's friend's mother to let her know what was happening and why she wouldn't be able to pick her up for a bit. Luckily, she was understanding.

The trip to the ER was the longest drive Elsa had ever taken. Everything was happening so quickly, and yet it felt like forever since it all started. She was overwhelmed already, and the fallout had just begun. None of her friends even knew what was happening, and she didn't know when she'd be able to speak to them next. She had told them that she'd be online and ready to play a game with them, and now she was a no-show. Hopefully that would tip them off that something was wrong. At least for Micah. He already worried every time she took more than five minutes to respond to his texts or Skype messages.

Everything at the ER happened just as quickly. Once she was walked in and given a room, she was instructed to strip down and put on a hospital gown. Being told to take her clothes off made her panic a little, but her mother managed to reassure her that everything was alright; nothing bad was about to happen to her.

Then the waiting started. She didn't know how long she was there, but it felt like an eternity was slowly slipping by as they just waited and waited for someone to check on them. Eventually the detect returned with a lady with brown hair in a white lab coat, and she was carrying a small black case in her hand. Setting the case down on a metal roll-away tray, she turned to Elsa and her mother and introduced herself.

“My name is Annabelle Houston, and I work for the city handling sexual abuse cases. This kit I have here will help us determine what kind of injury, if any, has occurred,” the lady said.

“Will it hurt?” Elsa asked quietly.

“No, sweetheart, it won't. It might feel a little strange, but I promise there won't be any pain.”

After Detective Hall excused himself, Annabelle opened up the kit and started pulling out things that Elsa didn't recognize. She did everything the woman told her to do, and it did end up feeling as weird as she said it would. It was incredibly embarrassing, but she understood that it was important for them to do this.

Once the lady was done, they waited a little bit more for the detective to return. When he did, he looked slightly relieved. He motioned for Melissa to step out into the hall with him.

“I have good and bad news. The good news is no rape has taken place. Everything is still the way it should be. The bad news is there is bruising and slight bleeding, probably from him being so rough with her. But again, no rape or intercourse of any kind.”

This made Melissa breathe out in relief. “So in other words she's still a virgin.”

“That is correct, yes.”

“Thank God that sick bastard didn't go that far with her. Please tell me you guys are doing something about him.”

“Officers Adkins and Morris have already informed you that we have people looking for him. The most I can tell you right now is that he will be caught. Typically, child molesters do not go far from where the incident took place. He's probably at a favorite hang out or something. But if you could tell me where he would likely go in this situation, or if you have any ideas at all, that would be very helpful.”

“There's a bar we used to go to sometimes to play darts with a couple friends. Mike's Lounge.”

“I know where that is. Is that somewhere he would likely go?”

“It's possible. He likes to go there and get drinks sometimes, especially after work. There's also his friend Brian. Shit, what's his last name... Hornbeck. Brian Hornbeck.”

“Okay. I'll have the patrols check there as well. Please, call me if you hear from him or have any other ideas of where he could have gone. I will contact you the moment we have him in custody.”

They were finally released to leave, and after Elsa got dressed they were driven home by an officer that had been standing by. The ride home went much faster, and Elsa felt incredibly relieved to be done with everything. At least for now. She didn't know how much more was going to happen, but she didn't care right now. All she wanted to do was get home, climb into bed, and sleep. It was already almost dinner time by the time they had left the hospital. She didn't feel like eating though. Her appetite was long gone.

Once they were home, the officer said that he would be keeping an eye on them until Dale was found and arrested. They both thanked him for the ride home and walked inside. As soon as they were in the door, Melissa pulled Elsa into very tight motherly hug. Elsa even decided to hug her back. They stood there for a long time embracing one another, both beginning to cry again.

Eventually, they broke the hug and Elsa excused herself to her room. Once inside, she decided to change into some pajamas and climb into bed. Her phone was sitting on her nightstand, and she almost ignored it until she saw that flashing light on it telling her she had missed calls or text messages. When she checked, she saw that all her friends had messaged her looking for her. They all sounded somewhat alarmed, and she had several from each one. So, she decided she had better answer them.

_Guys, I'm fine. Get on Skype and we can talk._

She didn't bother waiting for any responses. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and over to the computer. She almost wanted to wait until tomorrow, but she knew they were all worried about her. That's how her friends were. Kristoff and Rose knew something wasn't right about Elsa's home life, but they didn't know what. Micah did, and his texts were a little more concerned than the others'.

After booting up her laptop and logging into Skype, she saw that her friends were already waiting for her. All three of them asked her immediately if everything was okay. She told that things weren't okay, that she wasn't as fine as she wanted to be, and then proceeded to tell them everything. As she told them the story, she could tell that their intermittent responses were of shock and horror. She decided to tell them of everything from kindergarten on, and left nothing out. She didn't go into explicit detail on anything, but told them enough so that they knew how serious it was and how far back it went.

It felt liberating to finally come clean to her friends. To everyone, actually. It was like having this heavy weight lifted from her chest and shoulders. She felt clean. Refreshed. Alive for the first time in so long. As she finished with her story, her friends were all trying their best to console her, but she didn't really need that at the moment. Maybe later when she was lying in bed alone and worried that she'd have to go through more torment, but not right now. Right now she felt at peace. It did make her feel good that her friends were so concerned for her safety and happiness though.

After a bit, it hit her once more just how tired she was. So, she said her goodbyes to her friends, closed her laptop, and climbed back into bed. As soon as her head hit her pillow, her phone rang. Sighing, she rolled over and picked it up to see that it was Micah. She almost didn't answer it, but it was Micah and she couldn't do that to him.

“Hey,” she answered.

_“Hey. Are you going to be okay?”_

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm really tired right now. But I'm kind of scared to go to sleep too.”

_“I can come over for a bit if you'd like.”_

“I don't know, Micah. It's getting late and I just want to sleep.”

_“I don't have to. I just figured you would rather not be alone right now.”_

He was right. She really didn't want to be alone. “Okay. I'll wait up for you.”

_“Cool. I'll be there in five minutes.”_

He wasn't lying. He managed to make it in less than four minutes. When she answered the door, he was panting rather hard and almost doubled over.

“You weren't kidding.”

“I told you,” he said between breaths.

“Come on.”

They headed back to her room and sat on the bed. Elsa had grabbed her favorite red dragon doll and cuddled with it. They didn't say anything for a couple minutes.

“Do you know where your dad is now?” Micah eventually asked.

“In hell, hopefully.”

“Yeah, but I'm being serious.”

“So am I.”

“Where's your mom?”

“Downstairs I think. I don't know. She's probably on the phone with my aunt.”

Without warning, Micah threw his arm around Elsa's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. It felt nice, and she almost wanted to cry. But she didn't. She had done enough of that already.

“I've been worried sick about you. You know that, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, I know,” Elsa replied with a nod. “I'm sorry. I've been so scared for so long.”

“I know you have. I wish you would have told someone sooner.”

“Me too. I hate myself so much right now.”

“Why?”

“Because of what I let happen. I did it to protect Anna, but I wasn't thinking about myself at all. I am so screwed up Micah. I am so damaged, and I'll be this way the rest of my life. I don't know what to do.” As hard as she tried, the tears started coming.

“None of that was your fault, Elsa. None of it. You hear me? What your dad did is god damn disgusting. He did all of his to you. But you are not screwed up. You are a great person. You are one of the kindest, smartest, most beautiful people I have ever known. I wouldn't give you up for anything. And I will not let you be depressed. We will get you through this. All of us will.”

“I don't deserve you as a friend.”

“Of course you do. Have I ever told you that you're the most important person in my life? Because you have said that to me several times.”

“No. You've never said that. But do you really mean it?”

“Have I ever lied to you about anything before?”

“Well, no...”

“Then you have to believe me. I wouldn't tell you that if it wasn't true.”

“Okay.”

“So now what?” he asked.

“I don't know. I'm too scared to sleep, even though I'm so exhausted. I don't know what to do.”

“Do you want me to stay the night with you?”

“... Yes.”

“Okay. Let me run home and get a couple things. I'll sleep on the floor so you don't feel so alone. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes tops, alright?”

 

00000

 

The next day was interesting. Micah had slept on the floor of her room just like he said, and her mother didn't say a word. Normally, he wasn't allowed to, but Melissa made an exception. That morning, they were huddled around the table in the dining room eating some scrambled eggs and bacon that Elsa had cooked up. They were mostly quiet, and Elsa preferred it that way. There wasn't much to talk about anyway. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, so the silence was accepted graciously.

About noon, Melissa came upstairs and knocked on Elsa's bedroom door. She and Micah were playing a game on the PlayStation, and Pixel was perched on Elsa's shoulder just sniffing around.

“I have good news,” Melissa said as she entered.

“Yeah? What's that?” Elsa asked, not taking her eyes off the TV screen.

“They found your father.”

“What? Where?” The game was now paused and she was giving her mother her full attention.

“At some sleazy bar downtown. He apparently got so wasted he slept in his truck. They found him just an hour ago. So now, you have nothing to worry about. We won't have to see him ever again.”

“We will someday.”

“No, we won't. The detective said he's going to jail for awhile. They got enough evidence to convict him in court. He has to register as a sex offender, and we will have a lifetime restraining order on him. He will never hurt you again, sweet pea.”

Elsa understood everything her mother just said, and felt a great relief wash over her. She was never again going to have to deal with her father. He was now going to be a terrible memory, and that was all. No more being his little plaything. There was finally going to be peace.

“Tomorrow I'm going to call Dr. Cohen's office and try to get you an emergency appointment. I think you really need it,” Melissa said.

“Okay, mom. Can Micah stay the night again?”

“Elsa, you have school in the morning.”

“So? We have most of the same classes together.”

“I don't know. I guess if it's alright with his mother then sure.”

“Thank you,” Elsa said politely. She still hadn't really forgiven her mother, and probably wouldn't for quite some time.

After her mother left, they returned to their game. Elsa was happy, mostly because she knew Jenny would say yes. She knew Micah had told her everything, and if not him then her mother did for sure. So, she wasn't worried at all.

“I'm gonna have to run home and get my school stuff in a little bit,” Micah said.

“I know. I can go with you.”

“No, it's okay. You just stay here and rest.”

“Micah, I'm fine. Really.”

“Don't argue with me.”

“But-”

“But nothing. You're staying here.”

“That's not fair at all.”

“Too bad. Oh, I'm gonna grab my laptop too so we can chat with Rose and Kristoff.”

“Fine.”

Soon he was gone, and Elsa was left all alone. She decided to pull out her diary and write in it while she waited. She made sure to get every detail she could in there, no matter how terrible and embarrassing it was. It was her way to vent and get her thoughts out of her head. Most of the time, it helped. There were still somethings that clung onto her mind no matter how hard she tried, but it was much better with her little blue book.

She waited quite a while for him to return, and after nearly thirty minutes she decided to hop onto Skype and see if he was online. Much to her disappointment, he was not. But Kristoff and Rose were, and they both messaged her the instant she went online.

_Mikasa Ackerman: How are you doing today? Are you alright?_

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, I'm okay. Just overwhelmed._

_Dominator: Are you sure? After everything that happened we just want to know that you're okay._

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, I'm sure. Micah stayed the night, so I was alright. It helped having him here. I didn't have the nightmares I normally have._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Wait, Micah stayed the night? Do tell._

_Dominator: How come we weren't invited?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Really Kristoff? After what she went through you think she wanted us there?_

_Dominator: Well, I mean, Micah was there. Why not us?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Because, Micah gets special treatment._

_Frosty Soul: Okay, hold on there._

_Dominator: It's true, Elsa. Don't act like it's not._

_Frosty Soul: Please, stop. It's not like that at all._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Of course it is. And it should be._

_Dominator: Wait, what does that mean?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: It means nothing. Don't worry about it._

_Frosty Soul: Can we please not do this?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, sorry. Is he still there?_

_Frosty Soul: No he went home to get his stuff for school tomorrow._

_Dominator: Why?_

_Frosty Soul: ...He's staying the night again._

_Mikasa Ackerman: You go girl!_

_Dominator: Why are you cheering her on?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: I told you it's nothing. It's girl stuff. Don't worry about it._

_Dominator: Whatever._

_Frosty Soul: Anyway, change of subject please. He's getting his laptop, so we can play a game or something when he gets here._

_Dominator: Yeah, that sounds cool. Is Anna home too?_

_Frosty Soul: She's still at Bree's house. I think my mom is picking her up soon._

_Dominator: Oh._

_Frosty Soul: Why?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Because he likes your sister._

_Frosty Soul: I thought you guys all liked Anna._

_Mikasa Ackerman: That's not what I meant, Elsa. He 'likes' her._

_Dominator: Rose, shut your mouth._

_Frosty Soul: Oh. OH. Okay, um, well, yeah..._

_Dominator: Damn it. Thanks Rose._

_Mikasa Ackerman: You're welcome, sweetie._

_Frosty Soul: You actually like my sister like that?_

_Dominator: I am not commenting on that any further._

Just then, there was a knock at the front door, and Elsa could hear her mother answer it.

_Frosty Soul: I'll be right back. Micah is here._

She excused herself from the computer and headed down the hall to greet her friend. Micah was talking with Melissa quietly, who gave him a hug and told him to head upstairs. When he saw Elsa he smiled, and as he got to the top of he stairs she practically tackled him into a hug. He had a surprised look on his face when she let go.

“Holy crap, you haven't done that since we were little.”

Elsa was blushing, but had a toothy grin on her face. “I know. I just felt that you deserved a hug. I mean, you being here is really helping me a lot.”

“Well good. That was the point. Oh, my mom wants you to know that you can call her and talk to her at any time, day or night. She wants to make sure you're alright. Same goes for me. You ever need anything, or have a nightmare, or just feel lonely, you call me.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Now why don't we go kick Kristoff and Rose's butts at some Starcraft?”

 

00000

 

School was weird for awhile. Even though she knew that nobody was aware of what happened, she still felt their eyes on her. There was some overwhelming presence bearing down on her, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Her father was locked up, and would likely be for a long time. Everything between her and her friends was great. They were all extremely understanding and supportive. It was heartwarming knowing that she could confide in them with damn near anything. She didn't have to hide anymore, which removed so much stress from her that her body was returning to some semblance of normalcy. No more constant nausea, no more headaches, no more feeling drained. She felt good. Her sleep was still screwy, but Dr. Cohen was helping her with that as well. Still, she couldn't explain the feeling of all eyes being on her.

That was another thing that had improved. Her most recent visit with Dr. Cohen was liberating now that she didn't have to keep her dark secrets to herself. She was able to lay bare everything, from the abuse when she was little to the nightmares it still caused her. Everything was out in the open now and it felt great.

It was Tuesday, nearly a month passed since the day her father was caught. Elsa was sitting in her favorite leather chair in Dr. Cohen's office, drinking some tea that the therapist had offered her. It was still incredibly cold outside, so the hot drink warmed her right up. She was in a good mood. A great mood, actually. Everything since that day had gone so well.

Sitting in the chair across from her, as always, was Dr. Cohen with her notepad and clipboard. Her legs were crossed, and she was scribbling in her little book like usual.

“So, Elsa, tell me how you're feeling today.”

Elsa was blowing on her tea to cool it down, but was smiling. “I'm actually really good. Ever since my dad was caught and thrown in jail life has been good. I don't fear being at home anymore. I can be myself and not have to worry about getting in trouble for stupid things. I'm still having the nightmares almost every night, but I'm good otherwise.”

“That's fantastic to hear. What about going downstairs?”

“I... still can't. It hurts too much to try. My mom knows why now though. She knows that's where he would take me in the middle of the night a lot of the time and do all those things to me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. My room isn't so bad since it's still my safe place, even though he did stuff there too. But, I can go as far as my mom's office at least.”

“That's good. Baby steps, Elsa.”

“Yeah, that's what I keep trying to tell myself.”

“How are things between you and your friends?”

“They've never been better! Rose and I get to have a lot of girl time now, Kristoff and I went to the mall and hung out for a bit – that is something new that I can do now – and Micah and I are closer than ever.”

“Tell me about that.”

“About Micah? Oh. Well, he's still the one person I can rely on more than anyone. Whenever I have a problem or I'm upset, I call him and he's instantly there. If I have a nightmare in the middle of the night, he's there to calm me down and help me back to sleep. I'm blessed to have him in my life.”

“I believe so too. But what about your feelings for him?”

Elsa stopped to think about the question for a second. She really hadn't thought about that stuff much since everything happened. Her brain didn't really give her time.

“Honestly, I don't know. I feel so confused sometimes. Like, we are best friends. Always have been. But I love him so much that it hurts. I want to tell him so badly, but I still can't. I chicken out every time I have a chance to. I'm too afraid of losing him. I know he doesn't think of me the same way. He can't. If he did, he would have told me by now. So, I don't think I'll ever tell him. It would just be too awkward, and make our relationship so different. I don't know if I could handle that.”

“How do you know for sure that he doesn't feel that way about you? As close as you two are and have always been, I find it hard to believe that he doesn't have those feelings too.”

“Like I said, if he did feel that way he would have told me already. That's how he is. He holds nothing back from me, just like I don't with him.”

“Except for your feelings for him.”

“... Right.”

“So is it safe to assume that perhaps he is doing the same thing you are?”

“I doubt it. He doesn't think that way. He's too straightforward to hide things from me. I've always been the secretive one. Until recently that is.”

Dr. Cohen hummed to herself while she started writing something down. Then she looked back up and had an eyebrow quirked upwards. “What about Marshall. You haven't talked about him much lately.”

“I hardly see him anymore. He's in two of my classes, but doesn't sit anywhere near me. And in both classes I have either Rose or Kristoff and Micah there to look out for me. I think Rose scares him the most.”

“It's good to hear that your friends are there to support you. How are you feeling with the medication you're on?”

“I feel fine. My depression isn't as bad, though I still have my moments. When I have those I call up one of my friends and talk to them. They always manage to snap me out of it.”

“I'm so happy to hear that, Elsa. It sounds like things are finally going right for you.”

“They are. I couldn't be happier right now.”

“Good. Now, I know you start high school this year. Are you looking forward to that?”

“I think so. I mean, I'm a little scared of it, but I think that's normal. But my grades are still straight A's, so I'm not worried about what classes I'll have to take. I think the school counselor said something about being placed in honors and 'AP' classes, but I don't know what that means. I didn't think to ask her either.”

“It stands for 'Advanced Placement'. It's essentially more difficult material for the kids that are considered capable of handling the workload. It usually means more homework, and a bit faster pace. But you are a very smart girl, Elsa. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to handle that.”

“I'm pretty sure I could. But I'm worried about my friends, especially Micah. He struggles so much with math and science. I'm afraid he'll fall behind and I won't be able to help him as much.”

“Well, perhaps he can find a tutor.”

“I am his tutor. Have been since sixth grade. I know the best way to teach him. He says he likes how I help him. That I explain everything better than the teachers do.”

“Then I hope you find a way to keep helping him. It sounds like you are a little important to his education.”

“Maybe. I don't want to see him fail.”

“I doubt he will with you as his friend.”

“Plus there is Rose, who isn't very good with English. She struggles with a lot of the different rules for writing. But she knows how to spell well, and she knows the difference between like-sounding words. Then there's Kristoff, who doesn't really struggle that much with anything, but every now and then I have to help him with something. But he's usually pretty good otherwise. Micah is the only one I'm really worried about.”

“Well I hope things work out for you. How about romantic interests besides Micah. Are there any?”

“Oh God no. I have zero desire to date anyone ever again if it isn't Micah. So that means I'm going to be single for a very long time.”

After a little more pointless chatter, time was up and Elsa was escorted to the door and out into the lobby where she said her goodbyes. Her mother was waiting for her like usual, reading some boring magazine that didn't interest Elsa in the slightest. She never got into all that feminine stuff like most of the other girls her age did. Her girly stage ended with first grade. Sure, she still had her stuffed animals – especially her red dragon, Alrick – but that was about it.

As they climbed into the car to head home, Elsa thought about the one thing that really stuck out to her. Her feelings for Micah were getting stronger, and she didn't know what to do. There was no way she could ever come clean to him. That much she was certain of. There was zero chance that she would ever tell the love her life how she truly felt.


	9. Summer Fun

June 19th, 2013. It was the start of summer, and everyone was enjoying their vacation from school. The group had been hanging out practically every day, mostly at Elsa's house since she still had that above ground pool they had purchased years ago. Her mom had decided to invite everyone over for a barbecue, and the kids were hanging out in the cool water of the pool. They were having so much fun that they didn't pay any attention to the passage of time; they had been out playing all day.

Elsa was still recovering from what happened with her father all those months ago. The nightmares were as bad as ever, and she wasn't sleeping much at all. It was actually getting worse, and she had no idea why. Her dreams mostly consisted of her father standing over her and telling her to strip for him and doing things that she would rather not think about. Sometimes they were about the beatings she would get from him as well. There were never any marks left on her that were visible, but it hurt like hell every time. She wondered all the time why her father treated her the way he did. There didn't seem to be any actual reason why he did what he did. 

Dr. Cohen had begun helping her at least realize that she did nothing to deserve it. It was starting to get through to her, but it was still going to take a long time. Much like the nightmares. She had no idea how long that would take. Possibly a lifetime. The depression was still there, but it was manageable, and the loneliness and isolation was getting better. She had her friends to help remedy that, but the times that they couldn't be there were torturous. Luckily, Anna was there to fill in the gap.

Her and Anna had become much closer after the fallout with what happened in January. When Anna learned what Elsa had been going through, and the reason she chose to suffer for so long in silence, she was devastated. Her heart broke into pieces the moment she heard the story. She loved her older sister dearly, and that only became more obvious afterwards. Now, whenever Elsa was home alone, or her friends weren't there, Anna made sure to be there to keep her company. It warmed Elsa's heart, and she thanked God himself for being so lucky to have the support that she did from everyone.

Once dinner was done and the kids were called to eat, they gathered around the outdoor picnic table that was on the back deck. It was crowded with everyone there, but they managed. They discussed all the things they wanted to do during the summer, and how they planned on getting ready for high school. All of them were a little nervous about it. Except for Rose. For some reason, that girl was fearless. She was something of a role model to Elsa as far as that went. Rose could get up in front of a crowd of people and talk about anything without getting nervous. Elsa, on the other hand, hated doing reports for school. Any project that required her to get in front of the class to speak terrified her. But she always managed to do it.

After everyone sucked down their burgers and hotdogs, they took turns getting dressed before heading to Elsa's room to hang out. They mostly just sat and talked, making more plans for the summer. Elsa decided she was going to have another sleep over with everyone as soon as possible. They all had recently gotten 3DSes and the new Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to play. It was Micah's favorite game series, and he wanted to share the experience with his friends. So, he talked them all into getting it. Elsa had seen him play it before, so she kind of new what to expect.

They hung out for quite a while before everyone had to start heading home. It was getting late, and Elsa decided that she'd turn in early for the night. Normally she'd stay up until 1 or 2 am, but she was so exhausted from hanging out in the pool that she really didn't feel up to it. So, she chose to shower, get into her most comfortable pajamas, and crawl under the blankets on her bed, making sure to grab her little red dragon in the process. She didn't have her father to fear any longer, so she was able rest easier than she ever used to before.

As she was settling in for the night, Anna knocked on the door and helped herself in. Elsa had grown used to her lack of privacy when it came to her sister, and didn't let it bother her anymore. When Anna crossed the room and sat down at the foot of the bed, Elsa tried to act like she wasn't being inconvenienced in any way. She had no idea if she was successful or not.

“What's up?” she asked as nicely as possible.

“Nothin' really. Just wanted to see how you were doing.”

For some reason, this made Elsa smile a little. Her sister's concern was appreciated. “I'm okay. Just getting ready for bed. You probably should be too.”

“I'm not tired yet. Plus I'm waiting for the others to get online. They're going to teach me some new strategies for Starcraft. I think I'm getting the hang of it now. Maybe soon I'll be able to keep up with you guys.”

“How come you don't play with any of your friends?”

“Are you kidding? My friends are boring. That's why I hardly hang out with them.”

This made Elsa giggle and roll her eyes at her sister. “Well, you're lucky my friends like you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Anna said with a grin. “Are you sure you don't want to play with us? It'd be really cool if you did.”

“Yeah, I'm sure. I'm exhausted and just want to sleep, even if I'll only get a couple hours.”

“I wish I could help you with that, Elsa. I don't like you having those nightmares.”

“It's okay,” Elsa reassured her. “Nobody can help me right now. It's just something that I'm going to have to work through.”

“Do you want me to get you anything before I go? A glass of water or something?” Anna asked.

“No, I'm fine Anna. Really. You don't have to worry.”

“I'm just trying to help.”

“I know you are, and I greatly appreciate it. But I'm fine. I'm going to pass out soon, hopefully.”

“Okay. You try to have a good night. If you have any problems, I'm right next door.”

With that, Anna got up, hugged her sister goodnight, and headed back to her room to get ready to play with the others. Elsa tried to sink as deep into her bed as possible, clutching onto her little red dragon as hard as she could. It made her feel safe when no one else was there. Always had. She liked to think that it kept the nightmares away for a little while.

Eventually, sleep did finally come. At first it was dreamless, just black and comforting. When the dreams did finally come, they were mostly of her spending time with Micah. It was always something mundane that they were doing together, such as watching a movie or going somewhere to eat, but it was always a happy time for her. But they always ended horrifically, usually with her father coming into the picture. She hated thinking about that, hated what happened in those parts of her dreams, and always did her best to forget them.

After a few hours of sleep, a particularly terrifying nightmare caused her to bolt upright in bed, covered in sweat and her heart racing. It took her several seconds to realize she was back in her room and that she was safe. Once she had calmed herself, she considered going to Anna's room and seeing if she was still awake, but thought better of it. She didn't need to burden her sister with this. Anna was already worried sick for her as it was, she didn't want to add to that. So, instead she reached over for her phone on the nightstand and dialed Micah's number. He had told her already that she could call him anytime she needed to. This was one of those times.

The phone rang several times, and she almost decided to give up when Micah's voice answered on the other end. “Hey Els. You doing okay?”

“No, not really.”

“Another nightmare?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Um, yeah, actually. We, uh, we were sitting in my room talking and watching a movie – I don't remember which one – when my dad kicked the door down. He kicked you and threw you out into the hall where you just sort of disappeared, then he, um, he...”

“You don't have to finish, Elsa.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want me to come over?”

“I do, but it's 1:30 am. It's a little late, and I'm pretty sure everyone is asleep.”

“Alright, if you're sure.”

“I'm not sure.”

“Okay, I'll be over in about ten minutes.”

The call ended and she placed her phone back on her nightstand, got up out of bed, and stretched. She knew she wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night, and considered going and making some coffee. That was something she had started doing towards the end of the school year. Her mother wasn't sure about it at first, but decided that Elsa was responsible enough to handle it.

Micah's telltale knock came about ten minutes later, just like he had said. Elsa was in the middle of brewing some coffee for them when he entered the kitchen. He had been given a key by Melissa a few months ago, shortly after the incident with Dale. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her into a gentle hug, and she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“You doing okay?” he asked as he gently rubbed a hand down her back.

“Yeah, I think so. I'm feeling a little better now,” she said.

“What are we going to do about these nightmares, Els? You can't keep doing this.”

“I know. They're not as bad when you're here though.”

“Yeah, but I can't always be here. I don't think either of our moms would like that.”

“I could easily talk my mom into it.”

“Elsa, it isn't going to happen, no matter how much either of us want it to.”

“Wait, you want to be here all the time?” she asked.

This caught Micah off guard, and he started to blush. He started rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to figure out what to say. “Well, I mean, uh, I like spending my time with you. We wouldn't be best friends if we didn't.”

“I guess.”

“Why don't you tell me what's on your mind.”

“I'm sorry for dragging you over here.”

“Don't you dare apologize for that. Ever. I will always make time for you, no matter what.”

“Like I've said before, I don't deserve you as a friend.”

“Of course you do,” Micah assured her.

“I don't feel like I do.”

“How many times do I have to tell you how great of a person you are? You're beautiful, smart, caring, funny when you want to be, and all around amazing. Any guy would be lucky to be with you.”

If only that guy was you. “I don't want to be with anyone. I'm not ever making that mistake again. No one should be stuck dealing with me and my issues.”

“I don't think your issues are that big of a deal to be with.”

“What do you mean?” Elsa asked.

“Uh, I mean, well, that your problems don't bother me. I'm just concerned for you.”

“Oh.”

“So what now?” Micah asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“I don't know. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. I'm afraid of having another nightmare.”

“Well, we can just hang out.”

“Micah, you have got to be exhausted. I know you haven't been to sleep yet.”

“So?” he said with a shrug.

“Come here,” Elsa said as she took his hand and dragged him down the hall to her room.

Once back in her room, she motioned for him to take a seat on her bed. Then she set to work pushing all of her stuffed animals out of the way, mostly tossing them into the corner of her room. Once she was done, she pointed at him then pointed at the bed, indicating for him to lay down.

“Elsa, what the hell are you doing?”

“I'm making you get some sleep.”

“I'm not tired.”

“Don't lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. Now lay down.”

“And what about you?”

“I haven't decided what I'm going to do. Probably just hop on the computer and browse my websites.”

“What was the point of me coming over if I'm just going to crash while you stay up?”

“...I don't know. I just wanted you here,” she said with a blush. She was glad the room was dimly lit.

“Just tell me what is going on.”

“Okay, fine. I feel better with you here,” Elsa admitted. “You make me feel...safe. Like I don't have to worry about anything for awhile. Kristoff and Rose don't do that for me like you do.”

“Then why don't we just stay up and talk?”

“Because I want you to get some sleep.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Micah said, sounding confused.

“It doesn't have to. Just please do this for me.”

“Fine, but only if you come lay down and try to get some sleep too.”

“How am I going to do that if you're on my bed?”

“I can scoot over. There's plenty of room.” As if to demonstrate, he waved his hand over her spot on the bed, showing there was lots of space left.

“I don't know... I don't think my mom would like that.”

“Why?”

“I don't know. That's just how she is.”

“But I've slept in here plenty of times.”

“I know. You know what? I don't care tonight.”

“Okay. Now get your ass in bed so we can go to sleep. I'm actually starting to get tired now.”

00000

The next morning, the sunlight was peaking in through the curtain that was hanging over Elsa's bedroom window. The light was hitting her right in the face, and eventually woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she was incredibly groggy, and didn't realize that she was laying cuddled up next to Micah with an arm draped over his chest. After she finally woke up enough to realize it, she panicked. She didn't want him to wake up like that and think she was being weird, but at the same time she really enjoyed it. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep he wouldn't say anything when he woke up. He wasn't a heavy sleeper, so she was afraid moving would wake him up.

Eventually, he did stir. When he woke up more, he looked down to see Elsa trying hard to pretend to be asleep. He didn't mind at all that she was cuddling with him. He rather liked it. But she could never know that. Not wanting to get her in trouble with her mother, he shook her until she pretended to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she feigned shock and embarrassment, praying that he wouldn't notice.

“I am so sorry Micah. I didn't mean to-”

“Elsa, it's fine. If it helped you sleep, then I'm okay with it.”

Blushing, Elsa looked away from him and tried staring at the wall instead. “It did, actually. A lot. I must have got about six hours of sleep last night. That's the most I've had in a long time.”

“Good. Glad I could be of service.”

“I wish you could just live here.”

“We both know that will never happen.”

“I know. Maybe for the summer?” Elsa asked, knowing full well that that wouldn't happen.

“I doubt that would fly with our moms.”

“Probably not. It's not fair though.”

“Yeah, I know. To be honest, that was the most peaceful sleep I've had in a while too. Kind of weird, isn't it?”

“Yeah, weird,” Elsa said with a fake little laugh.

“Well, I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat.”

They decided to raid the kitchen and eat just about whatever they could find. They weren't picky. Elsa ended up with a bowl of cereal while Micah helped himself to some leftovers from the barbecue the day before. It wasn't remotely healthy, but he was fourteen and didn't care. He even ate the food cold because he was too lazy to heat it up. Elsa couldn't figure out why he would do that, or how he could stomach it that way.

While they were eating, Melissa came out to the kitchen to make some coffee. When she saw that there was a pot already made from in the middle of the night, she immediately knew that Elsa had been up with more nightmares. Pouring herself a cup and sticking it in the microwave to heat it back up, she suddenly heard Micah's voice coming from the dining room. Curious, she went to investigate, only to see the boy sitting across from Elsa eating a cold burger patty.

“And when did you get here?” Melissa said with a grin.

Both kids froze for a second, then Elsa turned around in her seat to look at her mother. “He sort of came over after I called him about my nightmare. Then he sort of fell asleep in my room. But it helped me get back to sleep! I got about six hours of sleep last night. That's double what I normally get.”

“That's good to hear sweetheart, but don't you think his mother is going to wonder where he is?”

“Oh, she knows. I told her when I was getting ready to come over,” Micah assured her.

“Of course you did. Well, I guess I can't be mad. Just try not to wake Anna up, okay?”

“Will do, mom,” Elsa said.

With that, Melissa grabbed her coffee and headed downstairs. Elsa and Micah decided to head back to her room to play some video games while waiting for their friends to come online. They mostly just laid around and relaxed, not really talking but enjoying each others company. It was a couple hours before anyone hopped online, and the first one to show up was Rose. Micah was busy playing a game on the TV while Elsa was on her laptop when she got a message over Skype.

_Mikasa Ackerman: Hey Els. Good morning sunshine! Have anymore of those nightmares?_

_Frosty Soul: Hey. Yeah, I did. But everything is okay now._

_Mikasa Ackerman: That's good. Did you at least get some sleep? I know you have trouble with that._

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, I actually got a lot more sleep than normal. Micah helped me with that._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Oh? Do tell._

_Frosty Soul: It's nothing really. He came over last night and stayed the night._

_Mikasa Ackerman: I see._

_Frosty Soul: It's not like that._

_Mikasa Ackerman: I didn't say anything._

_Frosty Soul: I know you, Rose. You were thinking it._

_Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know what you're talking about._

_Frosty Soul: You are a terrible liar._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Fine. Then what happened?_

_Frosty Soul: Nothing. We slept. That's it._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Girl, I am going to slap you._

_Frosty Soul: Why?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Because you had him there all to yourself and you did nothing. You need to stop being such a chicken and tell him already._

“Tell me what?” Micah asked, startling Elsa.

Quickly, Elsa slammed her laptop shut and turned a deep red, turned around, and punched him in the arm. “You jerk! Don't do that! And why are you reading over my shoulder anyway?”

“I was just curious to see who you were talking to. But seriously, what is going on?”

“It is none of your business, Micah. It's private girl stuff. And no, I am never going to tell you. So don't even think about begging me.”

“Jesus, alright. I'm sorry for interrupting. Just tell Rose I said hi.”

Rolling her eyes at him, she waited for him to sit back down before opening her laptop back up. When she did, she had a couple more messages from Rose.

_Mikasa Ackerman: Hello?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Why did you just go offline?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: I'm sorry if I upset you._

_Frosty Soul: Sorry, you didn't. I had someone trying to read over my shoulder. But he's been put in his place now._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Oh thank God. Did I embarrass you?_

_Frosty Soul: No more than usual._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Oh okay. So seriously, tell him Elsa. I know it's eating you alive. You've told me so. You will feel so much better if you do. And I am almost positive he feels the same way. Otherwise he wouldn't spend all of his time with you._

_Frosty Soul: I told you I am not going to do that. I cannot take that risk. If I lose him as a friend, I don't think I could handle things anymore._

_Mikasa Ackerman: This is exactly what I'm talking about, Elsa. My God you are so damn stubborn. What is it going to take to get you to tell him?_

_Frosty Soul: Nothing will ever make me tell him. I want him to be happy with someone of his choice. I don't want to push myself onto him. Like I've told you countless times, we are best friends. He is my buddy. Has been since we were six. These feelings are one-sided, that much I can promise._

_Mikasa Ackerman: But you don't know that._

_Frosty Soul: Maybe not. Maybe I'm completely wrong and he does love me. But I am never going to find out because I am never going to take that risk and ruin what we have._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, I feel so sorry for you. I so want to see you happy, and I know you would be happy with him. There's no question about it. I just wish I understood why you are so sure that it would ruin things._

_Frosty Soul: It would make things incredibly awkward. They would never be the same again. It's possible that it'd scare him away. How do you think I could live if that happened?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, IF. You don't know for sure. It could work out perfectly for you two._

_Frosty Soul: I just know that I'm much happier with how things are now than the possibility of ruining everything. I'm happy now. Why try and change it?_

_Mikasa Ackerman: Because it is killing you, Elsa._

_Frosty Soul: I'll live. Change of subject now, please._

_Mikasa Ackerman: You're making a big mistake._

_Frosty Soul: So you've said._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Anyway, do you guys want to play something?_

_Frosty Soul: He doesn't have his laptop with him._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Oh. Well, he only lives right around the corner from you. He could run and get it._

_Frosty Soul: He's busy playing Far Cry 3 on the PlayStation right now. But I can ask him._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Nah, it's alright. Kristoff isn't online right now anyway. Oh, how come you haven't told him how you feel about Micah?_

_Frosty Soul: Because I know for a fact that he would tell Micah. You I know won't. You might be a pain in the ass, but I know you won't betray my trust. Kristoff, as much as I love him, would tell Micah in a heartbeat._

_Mikasa Ackerman: Fair enough. But you know he's going to find out eventually, or piece things together. Then what?_

_Frosty Soul: Then I'll deny it to the grave._

_Mikasa Ackerman: You are hellbent on him never knowing._

_Frosty Soul: Yes I am._

00000

It was soon time for school registration, and Elsa was busy filling out the elective classes she wanted to take. Like she had told Dr. Cohen, she was placed in mostly honors classes. She didn't mind, but she was a little worried about not having any classes with her friends at all. What really worried her though was the fact that Micah was going to need a lot of help with his work. Elsa knew he wasn't as prepared as she was, as he had struggled through much of seventh and eighth grade. It was actually stressing her out because there wasn't much she could do for him besides tutor him when she had free time. By the sounds of it, there wasn't going to be as much of that as she'd like.

For one of her electives, she decided to choose French. Elsa felt that it was a lovely language, and she would need a foreign language credit in order to get into college anyway. So it was a good pick. For the other elective, though, she had no idea. Her junior year she planned on taking psychology, but that was a ways away. For now, she decided to settle with web design, though it wasn't really something she wanted. It was mostly just a credit towards getting into college. That's what really mattered to her.

Rose ended up going with Japanese and art, which surprised no one. Her desire to be as much into Japanese culture as she could be was evident all the time. She was incredibly excited for it. Unlike Kristoff and Micah. Those two had no idea what they were going to choose, and they didn't really seem to care. This frustrated Elsa to no end, because she didn't want to see them waste their chances at a good education. It was important to her for them all to graduate together with as good of grades as they could manage. With the boys not taking it seriously, she was beginning to stress out over what would happen to them.

Once classes were chosen and lockers were assigned to them, the gang decided to take a tour of the school. It was rather big, with a second floor stretching just as far as the first. There were several branching hallways to wander down, so getting lost was going to be a likelihood until they became accustomed to how the school was laid out. Surprisingly, Elsa and Micah got lockers relatively close to one another, so there was a chance they'd see each other during the day. This brightened her mood quite a bit.

About two weeks before school started back up, the group got together and went out to dinner to celebrate their entry into high school. All four of them were nervous, but they were also looking forward to the experience as well. Micah had finally decided to go for computer science and German as his electives, with Kristoff taking the same classes since he couldn't decide on anything else. So, Elsa was at least somewhat satisfied with that. She didn't end up with any of the same classes as her friends, but she expected that much. With all of her classes being honors, she knew that that was likely going to be the case.

It was the Tuesday before school started, and Elsa was sitting at her laptop waiting for everyone to hop online. The only one that was there was Kristoff, who had remained quiet, which was unusual for him. Normally he'd strike up a conversation the moment she came online. So, it was up to her to initiate one.

_Frosty Soul: Hey Kristoff. Why so quiet?_

It took a couple minutes before he responded, and at first Elsa wasn't sure he would.

_Dominator: Oh hey. Sorry, was away from the computer. My niece is over, and I'm kind of babysitting her._

_Frosty Soul: Well that's sweet of you. How old is she?_

_Dominator: She's seven. She's adorable, but a little too energetic and adventurous. I thought girls were supposed to be the calm and quiet ones._

_Frosty Soul: Tell that to Anna._

_Dominator: How is she by the way?_

_Frosty Soul: Excited to go into sixth grade. She's looking forward to camp._

_Dominator: Oh yeah, she'll love it. Remember when you had to save Micah's ass?_

_Frosty Soul: Of course I do. I still have nightmares about it._

_Dominator: Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't know._

_Frosty Soul: It's okay. I haven't exactly told anyone, even Micah. You guys already worry enough about me as it is._

_Dominator: That's because we care. And after everything you've been through, it makes it that much more important that we're there for you._

_Frosty Soul: Thanks. I do actually appreciate it. I just don't think you guys need to worry as much as you do. I try not to think about things much, and as long as I keep myself busy it's much easier to bury those memories in the back of my mind. The only time they really get to me is when I'm idle laying in bed. Sometimes they'll sneak up on me during the day, but it's become rather rare now. Therapy is helping with that._

_Dominator: Well, that's great to hear! You've been seeing Dr. Cohen forever. I'm just glad that it's actually working for you._

_Frosty Soul: Me too._

_Dominator: You all set for school on Thursday?_

_Frosty Soul: Yeah, mostly. I'm still nervous about it._

_Dominator: I am too a little. I think we all are. Except for maybe Rose. I don't know how she does it._

_Frosty Soul: I envy her. But I think Micah is terrified. I don't know if he's ready to be honest. He barely got good grades last year, and only then because I helped him so much. I'm afraid he's going to fail if I can't tutor him again this year._

_Dominator: Don't worry. You won't have to be the only one. I talked to Rose about it, and we're going to pitch in to help you out so you aren't the only one. I'm in German and computer science with him, so I'll at least be able to help him there. Rose is in his math class, so she can help him out. So you have nothing to worry about. He'll be fine._

_Frosty Soul: I certainly hope not. I'm still going to make him come over after school so I can supervise him. He tends to procrastinate if I don't. Last thing he needs is to be late all the time with his school work._

_Dominator: I admire how dedicated you are to all of us and our education. I really do. I mean, not even my parents are that hardcore about it._

_Frosty Soul: It's important to me that we all graduate on time together. I want us to be able to go off to college and succeed._

_Dominator: Don't worry, we'll make sure all four of us make it._

_Frosty Soul: I certainly hope so._

_Dominator: Sorry Els, I gotta go for now. My niece is getting a little reckless at the moment. I'll talk to you in a bit._

_Frosty Soul: Okay. Bye._

Closing her laptop, Elsa let out a sigh before getting up and heading to her bed. Grabbing her diary as she plopped down on the comfortable and feather soft mattress, she grabbed her favorite pen and started writing in it about all her fears of the coming school year, and what will happen to her friends. School started in just a couple of days, and she had no idea what to really expect. She had no doubt she could handle the workload that will be thrust upon her, but what she didn't know was that things would end up becoming very stressed between her and her friends.


End file.
